KARACHI, Aug 2: Trading volume fell to a record low of 17m shares on Friday as leading bulls as well as bears stayed away leaving the market at the mercy of jobbers and day traders. The KSE 100-share index fell 3.90 points at 1,779.40.

It was the second lowest single-session turnover figure, the lowest so far was touched at 15.141m shares on September 3, last year after the introduction of the T+3 trading system on the Karachi Stock Exchange in a bid to make share business more transparent.

What ails the market. No precise answer is coming from any quarter. All are virtually silent on the issue, leading to a terrible lull and sending wrong signals to the world investors.

“The apex regulatory body is out to make the local stock exchanges more transparent and more modern just in one go, while brokers are resisting the moves after staying out of the market”, some financial analysts said.

Both of the contenders may be right in their own ways but one thing should be kept in the mind that the switch-over from one system to the other should be progressive and not imposed just in one go, they added.

Brokers may not have other leverages to bring home their point of view at the highest level and may have decided to keep to the sidelines to demonstrate a silent protest, they added.

The KSE 100-share though moved within a narrow range, reflecting the absence of both leading bulls and institutional traders, it again fell by 3.90 points at 1,779.40 as compared to 1,783.05 a day earlier.

The market has never been so dull as it is now, dealers said adding it seems all have decided to keep away for reasons not immediately known to the general investors.

Some say investors are keeping away owing to election uncertainties and some other claim the current tussle between the stock exchanges and the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan, over the enforcement of some rules leading to more transparent share business is the real inhibiting factor behind the current sluggishness.

“It appears the brokers have in unison decided to keep away from the market until the proposed rules are not withdrawn”, some insiders say and “how long the current showdown goes is not clear”.

Why the financial institutions are following the brokers is not clear but in similar situations as the prevailing one their role is to support the market, they add.

Price changes were fractional and reflected the absence of strong support rather than large selling from any quarter. However, some of the leading shares managed to finish higher under the lead of Gatron Industries, Lever Brothers, Clover Pakistan and International Industries, rising by one rupee to Rs3.75.

Losers were led by D.M. Textiles, Singer Pakistan, PSO, Shafiq Textiles, Bhanero Textiles and Shell Gas, off one rupee to Rs4. It was in this background that the trading volume fell to a record low as leading buyers and sellers kept to the sidelines. Losers held a strong lead over the gainers at 135 to 72, with 73 shares holding on to the last levels.

Hub-Power led the list of actives, unchanged at Rs24.25 on 4m shares, followed by PSO, off Rs1.05 at Rs139.20 on 2m shares, PTCL, easy five paisa also on 2m shares, Southern Electric, lower 25 paisa at Rs11.65 on 0.977m shares and Dewan Salman, off 20 paisa at Rs13.50 on 0.821m shares.

Other actives were led by ICI Pakistan, lower 25 paisa on 0.731m shares, Engro Chemical, unchanged on 0.561m shares, Natover Lease (pref), also unchanged on 0.500m shares, Sui Northern, lower 10 paisa on 0.470m and MCB, off 25 paisa on 0.449m shares.

FUTURE CONTRACTS: Trading on the forward counter was also relatively dull in the absence of strong speculative support. PSO again came in for active selling and finished lower by Rs1.35 at Rs139.60 on 1.142m shares, while Hub-Power fell by 10 paisa at Rs24.35 on 1.935m shares. PTCL was traded unchanged at Rs17.75 on 0.390m shares. Others were also modestly traded mostly on the lower side.