07 August 2004	Saturday	20 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

KARACHI, Aug 6: Stocks on Friday recovered from the previous lower levels as investors covered positions at the lower levels amid an actively traded session.

The KSE 100-share index recovered 40 points at 5,344.00, adding Rs11bn to the market capital at Rs1,444bn.

Cement shares led the market advance on active short-covering followed by reports that UAE has lifted ban on cement imports from any country. Investors covered positions in this sector amid hopes that some of the leading producers would resume export to Dubai. All the shares rose in unison on large volumes.

The afternoon session, therefore, witnessed a major change in the investor perceptions who entered the market in a big way and caused a snap rally to the surprise of even well-informed analysts.

Some of the leading and second-liners in the cement, energy and banking sectors came in for active short-covering at the lower levels and pushed the market in the plus column just in one go.

The weekend rally always signals that the technical correction is overdone and the market is well on the way of a sustained recovery by the next week. All the leading current favourites, notably OGDC, National Bank, PTCL, Hub-Power, PSO, Shell Pakistan and some others ended with modest rallies amid active trading.

Investors are awaiting the public offering of Rs500m Term Finance Certificates (TFCs), a part of Rs2 billion issue by the United Bank on Aug 9-10. It will have a tenure of eight years, having a fixed return of 8.45 per cent, payable semi-annually.

After early moving within a narrow groove of 10 points, the KSE 100-share index finally staged a smart recovery and finished with a net rise of 39.68 points at 5,343.52 as compared to 5,303.84 a day earlier.

Floor brokers said the market appears to be passing through a consolidation phase for the last couple of sessions and investors are expected to be back possibly by early next week.

"An attractive bait of lower levels on some of the counters is there and only fools could miss it", they said "next week trading could witness many a surprises on selected counters".

But some others said leading investors were awaiting the outcome of Aug 18 election and until then may not make bigger commitments. The suicide attack on Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz has raised many questions for the investing public and most of them think twice before taking new positions, they said.

Meanwhile, more than expected applicants mostly small investors succeeded in winning share mandate from the management of the Pakistan Petroleum and became its shareholders.

The number of shareholders in it reflects, perhaps for the first time, that it has (PPL) proved itself a true exponent of "privatization for the people", one analyst said. Leading gainers were led by Atlas Honda and International Industries, up by Rs14.50 and 15.50 respectively on reports of higher earnings.

Other good gainers included New Jubilee Insurance, Askari Bank, Ghani Glass, Atlas Battery, Pakistan Cables, Lakson Tobacco, Gatron Industries and Jahangir Siddiqui Co, which posted gains ranging from Rs4 to Rs7.70.

Losses on the other hand were fractional barring Javed Omer, which fell sharply lower on profit-selling at the inflated level, off Rs30 followed by Honda Atlas Cars, Pakistan Paper Products, Shell Pakistan, Haroon Oils, National Foods and Dawood Lawrence, off Rs2.10 to Rs4.10.

Trading volume rose to 284m shares from the previous 201m shares as advancing shares held a strong lead over the losing ones at 187 to 90, with 42 shares holding on to the last levels.

Undervalued Chakwal Cement came in for active support and rose by Rs1.05 at Rs8.95 on 38m shares followed by D.G.Khan Cement, higher by Rs1.10 at Rs58.20 on 29m shares, Maple Leaf Cement, up by Rs1.65 at Rs39.85, Fauji Cement, higher by Rs1.50 at Rs16.65 on 24m shares and National Bank, firm by 60 paisa at Rs72.55 on 21m shares.

Other actives were led by Askari Bank, sharply higher by Rs4.25 on expectations of higher dividend, on 16m shares, Lucky Cement, firm 75 paisa on 14m shares, OGDC, up by 45 paisa also on 14m shares, Bank of Punjab, steady 70 paisa on 12m shares and PTCL, up by 30 paisa on 9m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Pakistan Petroleum came in for fresh selling, falling by 60 paisa on 24m shares followed by OGDC, up by 45 paisa at Rs64 on 5m shares and PTCL, higher by 25 paisa at Rs43.10 on 4m shares.

PSO was marked up by Rs1.80 at Rs258, while D.G.Khan Cement, rose by Rs1.10 at Rs58.40 on 4m shares, National Bank, up by 90 paisa at Rs73 on 2m shares.

DEFAULTER COS: Crescent-Standard Bank again came in for strong support and rose by 75 paisa at Rs11.35 on 1.623m shares. Others were fractionally traded as investors were not inclined to take risk because of weekend considerations.