May 10, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1424

KARACHI, May 9: Share values on the Karachi Stock Exchange ended the week on a positive note as peace initiatives with India and higher dividend yields did not allow investors to leave the arena and they actively participated in trading till the closing bell.

Bulk of the support came from the institutional traders mostly on the running stocks. Retailers were also active on the second-liners and undervalued shares, enabling the market to maintain a firm posture. Cement shares were leading among them on reports of higher exports.

Weekend profit-selling towards the fag-end of the session was there, which trimmed a good part of the initial gains on the blue chip counters, the market did not show signs that the current run-up is overdone. Rather the prevailing optimism points to an imminent price flare-up.

The KSE 100-share index posted a fresh rise of 9.55 points at 2,972.42 as compared to 2,962.87 a day earlier, signalling to test the coveted level of 3,000 possibly by the next week. The mid-session rally has pushed it well above the 2,990 level, but late weekend selling allowed it to finish with clipped gain.

Analysts predict the previous abortive attempts to test the level now may not have relevance to its upward march as the ground situation has undergone a major change after the peace overtures in the subcontinent.

“This level could be touched with a convincing margin during the next week despite the fact that the market enters the overbought territory after the index level of 2,980,” they added.

They apparently base their assumption on the current peace moves on both sides of the divide and perhaps genuine desire behind it to sort out irritants.

Fresh developments on the sell-off front of KESC, Habib Bank and some other state-owned units, including Pakistan Steel whose 10 per cent shares are expected to be unloaded through the stock exchanges, also aided the underlying sentiment, they said.

The positive peace signals from the visiting US high official also reinforced the investor perceptions that the goal of peace between the two close neighbours may now not be an elusive goal.

The Indian prime minister’s statement in the parliament emphasising the need of peace was taken here by the investors as a positive signal, although he did not spell out in precise terms “how to achieve this goal” in the backdrop of a loud whispering about the infiltration in Kashmir, analysts said.

Floor brokers said although leading investors were still in two minds about India-Pakistan peace, they hoped the prevailing tension would ease after full diplomatic relations, air and rail services were resumed.

“The notable feature is that the bulk of support has shifted to some leading second-liners followed by reports of higher earnings and prospects of dividend,” they said.

Treet Corporation was again among the top gainers, up Rs18.10 on renewed expectations of a good dividend, followed by Dawood Cotton, Burewala Textiles, Noon Pakistan, Shezan International, Highnoon Lab, Century Papers, and Ismail Industries, higher by Rs2.50 to Rs5.40.

Losers were led by Al-Abid Mills, Mari Gas Millat Tractors, Pakistan Gum Chemicals, Unilever Pakistan, Gillette Pakistan, Gatron Industries and Siemens Pakistan, which suffered fall ranging from Rs1.90 to Rs6, the largest decline being in Siemens Pakistan.

The spread of buying interest to almost all the sectors is reflected in the number of advancing shares, which rose to 230 as compared to 149 losing ones, with 48 holding on to the last levels.

Traded volume fell to 204m shares from the 260m shares, bulk of which again went to the credit of most of the current favourites, notably PTCL, up 10 paisa at Rs25.40 on 28m shares.

Among the second-liners, D.G. Khan remained in active demand followed by reports of higher exports to Afghanistan, up 90 paisa at Rs16.45 on 26m shares, Lucky Cement, higher Rs1.30 at Rs13.30 on 22m shares, Hub-Power, firm five paisa at Rs35.15 on 20m shares and Sui Northern Gas, steady 10 paisa at Rs29.50 on 18m shares.

PSO rose by Rs1.20 on 9m shares, KESC, steady 10 paisa also on 9m shares, Bosicor Pakistan, lower 60 paisa on 5m shares, Sui Southern Gas, up 20 paisa on 5m shares and Maple Leaf Cement, higher by 55 paisa on 4m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Hub-Power came in for active selling and fell five paisa at Rs35.10 on 7m shares followed by PTCL, up 15 paisa at Rs25.45 on 5m shares, PSO, higher by Rs1.60 at Rs210.40 also on 5m shares, Sui Northern Gas, up 15 paisa at Rs29.50 on 4m shares and Pakistan PTA, easy five paisa at Rs9 on 1.265m shares.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Most of the undervalued shares on this counter again came in for strong support and generally ended higher under the lead of Maqbool Company, which rose by Rs1.85 at Rs26.85.

Medi Glass on the other hand fell by 10 paisa at Rs2.40 on 0.213m shares, followed by Quice Foods, steady five paisa at Rs1.70 on 82,500 shares and S.S. Oils, up 40 paisa at Rs4.80 on 46,000 shares. All others were also actively traded.