June 19, 2002	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 7, 1423

KARACHI, June 18: Stocks on Tuesday remained under pressure and suffered fresh fractional decline on stray selling by jobbers and short-term dealers, although selective support figured prominently on some blue chip counters.

It was a repeat performance of the post-budget session in the absence of leading institutional traders, and there are reasons to believe that the pause could pave the way for a grand rebound aided by the positive fiscal measures.

After opening higher, the KSE 100-share index failed to hold on to initial gains and finished with a fresh fractional decline of 1.88 points at 1,764 on late selling by short-term dealers and jobbers.

“The post-budget rally is now overdue as reliefs related to boost stock trading are now at the finger tips of investors,” says a leading broker “but everyone is waiting who bells the cat.”

All eyes now seem to be focused on the institutional traders who could initiate the post-budget rally as their absence has taken steam out of the market at least for the near-term, they added.

However, active short-covering in Hub-Power after last two sessions’ large selling tells some of the financial traders are already in the market as blue chips have already hit their pre-determined levels.

But weakness of the PSO did work against the general sentiment, although other energy shares including Shell Pakistan have recovered from their post-budget lower levels.

“Post-budget rally could be further delayed for a couple of more sessions, it can not be halted as the new budget is more investment-friendly than many may have thought,” says a leading stock analyst.

The market is essentially weighed down by the border situation and the allied uncertainty, although fears of war with India are now fading each passing day, he says.

Minus signs again dominated the list, major losers being Glaxo-Wellcome Pakistan, Treet Corporation, PSO, Grays of Cambridge, Fateh Textiles, Central Insurance and Abbott Lab were leading among the losers, falling by one rupee to Rs.5.

Some of the leading shares managed to finish modestly higher on stray short-covering. Bannu Woollen, Ahmed Hassan Textiles, Wyeth Pakistan, Shell Pakistan, Lever Brothers, Mari Gas, Pakistan Oilfields and Nestle Milkpak came in for stray support and rose by one rupee to Rs.3.50.

Traded volume showed a modest decline at 81m shares from the previous 85m shares as losers held a fair lead over the gainers at 130 to 79, with 63 shares holding on to the last levels.

Hub-Power, which has been under pressure for the last couple of sessions led the list of most actives, up 25 paisa at Rs.23.10 on 33m shares followed by PTCL, firm at the last level of Rs.17.35 on 19m shares, Telecard, off 50 paisa at Rs.14.05 on 6m shares, PSO, lower Rs.1.60 at Rs.139.50 on 5m shares and WorldCall, up 20 paisa at Rs.13.35 on 3m shares.

Other actives were led by National Bank, lower 20 paisa on 3m shares, Chakwal Cement, steady five paisa on 2.173m shares, Engro Chemical, unchanged on 1.666m shares, MCB, off 45 paisa on 1.284m shares and KESC, lower 10 paisa on 1.133m shares.

FUTURE CONTRACTS: PSO led the decline on the forward counter on renewed selling, although it needed correction at the current lows. It ended lower by Rs.1.70 at Rs.140,05 on 3.567m shares.

Hub-Power on the other hand came in for active short-covering at the lower levels and finished recovered by 15 paisa at Rs.23.20 on 8.400m shares followed by PTCL, unchanged at Rs.17.45 on 3.509m shares. Others showed fractional changes amid alternate bouts of buying and selling.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Shares of six companies came in for light trading and ended on a mixed note. While Crescent Spinning rose by 25 paisa at Rs.6.25 on 4,500 shares, Allied Motors fell by 50 paisa at Rs.8.85 on 2,500 shares.

Automotive Battery was traded modestly at the last level of 4.60 on 500 shares, while others lacked buying interest.