September 18, 2003	Thursday	Rajab 20, 1424

KARACHI, Sept 17: Stocks on Wednesday again fell across the board on renewed selling by all and sundry eroding another Rs21bn from the market capitalization at Rs955.00bn amid an actively traded session.

Unlike the overnight session, there was no panic but rather a section of leading investors covered positions on selected counters under the lead of PTCL and limited the market decline.

In a highly erratic movements of 150 points amid alternate bouts of buying and selling, the KSE 100-share index finished with a fresh sharp setback of 93.96 points at 4,292.59 after hitting the day’s best level of 4,428 at one stage.

Traded volume rose to 462m shares from the previous 388m shares as the Hub-Power remained victim of the fallout of conversion of 58 million shares into paper shares through the CDC by the National Power International of the UK, one of its stakeholders.

The National Power has already liquidated about five per cent of its total stake since January this year and analysts fear the latest converted paper shares (58m) may flood the market if it opts for further selling.

Its share value fell by another five per cent or Rs1.95 at Rs38.70 on renewed selling by some of the leading operators.

“I don’t think the current run-up has run its course,” said a leading analyst. “The correction was long overdue as the market did not look back after breaching through the barrier of 4,000 amid loud whispering of 5,000 index level.”

The market could suffer further pruning at the inflated levels owing to badla-related selling during the next couple of sessions, its inherent strength is intact.

It has set new records during the last eight months both in terms of market capitalization and index level and it may not be that easy to pull it down from the current levels, technical correction here and there notwithstanding.

Some of the good corporate announcements, notably from the PTCL, whose board will meet on Sept 24, are due by the end of the month, which could attract a lot of covering purchases putting the market again on the rails.

Stock brokers are, however, worried over the conflicting statements on the LFO issue and fears that contenders are poles apart on some contentious issues could lead to a showdown may work against the market.

“All official efforts to tame the warring MMA into a more flexible operating system for the president seem to have failed to produce desired results so far,” says a leading analyst. “Any breakthrough after two days break in talks sought by the government could give the needed boost to the market.”

Bulk of the selling again remained confined to the energy and auto sectors as investors took profits at the highly inflated levels, while many overvalued shares on other counters also remained under pressure and fell sharply lower. Major losers were PSO and Pakistan Oilfields, off Rs8.70 and Rs17 respectively.

Other notable losers were led by Shell Pakistan, Jahangir Siddiqui & Co, Attock Refinery, Ferozsons Lab, Cherat Papers, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Pakistan Refinery, Nestle MilkPak, Wyeth Pakistan and Javed Omer, which suffered fall ranging from Rs5 to Rs39.90.

The advancing shares included Glaxo-SKF, Atlas Honda and Unilever Pakistan, up by Rs4 to Rs20 followed by Shadman Cotton, Nishat Chunnian, Kohinoor Power and some other, up by Rs2.20 to Rs2.80.

Out of the 370 actives, 254 shares fell, while 79 rose, with 37 shares holding on to the last levels.

The most active list was up five paisa at Rs37.40 on 112m shares followed by Hub-Power, off Rs1.95 at Rs38.70 on 58m shares, PSO, lower by Rs8.70 at Rs282 on 23.72m shares, Pakistan Oilfields, down Rs17 at Rs382 on 24m shares and Fauji Cement, lower 80 paisa at Rs11.45 on 23m shares.

Other actives were led by National Bank, up 80 paisa on 18m shares, D.G. Khan Cement, off Rs2.15 also on 18m shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, easy 15 paisa on 17m shares, Lucky Cement, off Rs1.10 on 16m shares and PIAC, lower 95 paisa on 14m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Both Hub-Power and PSO came in for fresh selling and ended lower by Rs2 to Rs8.85 at Rs38.85 and 277.20 on 13 and 12m shares respectively followed by ICI Pakistan, off Rs3.90 on 2m shares.

PTCL led the actives, easy 15 paisa at Rs37.50 on 21m shares followed by FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, lower by the same amount at Rs17.40 also on 2m shares. Sui Northern Gas, MCB and Engro Chemical also fell sharply by Rs2.15, Rs2.60 and Rs3.50 at Rs41.40, Rs51.50 and Rs87.50 on active selling.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Trading on this counter remained slow but larger decline was resisted. Unity Modaraba, came in for stray selling and fell by 15 paisa at Rs1.95 on 0.315m shares followed by Standard Bank, easy 20 paisa at Rs6.50 on 0.191m shares and Biafo Industries, lower 15 paisa at Rs7.85 on 0.118m shares.

DIVIDEND: Netover Lease & Refinance, nil on ordinary shares and 15 per cent on preference shares, D.G. Khan Cement, 10 per cent preference shares in addition to cash payout of 10 per cent, Attock Refinery, final 25 per cent, Cherat Paper Sack, final cash 60 per cent plus 50 per cent interim already paid.

BOARD MEETINGS: Noor Silk, on Sept 20, Pakistan Engineering, Crescent Steel on Sept 22, Wazir Ali Industries, Associated Industries, Attock Cement, S.G. Power, S.G. Fibre, on Sept 23, Pakistan Refinery, Pakistan House International, Ferozsons Labs, on Sept 24, Central Forest Products, Shield Corporation and Grays of Cambridge on Sept 25.