19 October 2004	Tuesday	04 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Oct 18: Stocks on Monday finished with an extended fall as the mid-session strong rally faded out under the weight of selling in most of the pivotals at still higher levels, but there were buyers at dips. The KSE index shed another 52.76 points at 5,380.72, eroding another Rs20bn from the market capital.

The weakness of energy shares amid reports of lower earnings, and active profit-taking in bank and cement shares took the entire market along with them in minus column for the second session after the last three weeks' sustained run-up.

"A technical correction was overdue in the overbought market but I don't think bulls have played their all cards," says a leading analyst. "A secret weapon is still there to prop up the market on the strength of higher corporate earnings."

The KSE 100-share index breached through the psychological barrier of 5,400 as leading base shares came in for renewed selling and finished further lower under the lead of OGDC and PTCL.

After mid-session resistance to fresh decline, which pushed it to day's peak level of 5,458.80, a burst of strong selling at the fag-end of the session in the leading base shares allowed it close around the day's low level of 5,380.72 points, off 52.76 points.

As is customary with the advent of the holy month of Ramazan a formidable sector of investors and bargain-hunters made calculated commitments without taking long speculative positions and played mostly safe.

Trading activity was, therefore, terribly slow, the chief victim of it being the daily trading volume, which fell far below the average daily figure.

The extension of last weekend's reaction could chip off a few more postings from the index during the next couple of sessions but bears have not the gut to reverse the trend, analysts said.

The basic market fundamentals are still bullish and some of the good corporate announcements are due during the next couple of weeks and they could give a needed push to the falling market, they said.

The presence of support at the dips reflects that the market is still half way of meeting its technical demands being in a highly overbought position and could shed another few points but it would be followed by a strong rebound, analysts said.

Essentially, it was the weakness of leading shares, notably OGDC, PTCL, PPL and some others, including National Bank, which allowed the index to finish with an extended fall, but on the other hand active support in Nishat Mills, ICI Pakistan and some other pivotals averted major decline.

Although losers dominated the list, some of the leading shares managed to finish with an extended gain under the lead of Lakson Tobacco and Wyeth Pakistan, which rose by Rs15.75 to Rs64, while Mehmood Textiles, Abbott Lab, Colgate Pakistan, Century Paper and Attock Refinery, Agriautos, and Pakistan Engineering, which posted gains ranging from Rs3.50 to Rs6.60.

Prominent losers were led by Dawood Hercules, National Refinery, Pakistan Oilfields, ahead of its board meeting, Ferozsons Lab, PSO, Shell Pakistan, Arif Habib Securities and Javed Omer, falling by Rs4 to Rs14.55.

Trading volume was light at 148m shares as losers maintained a fair lead over the gainers at 173 to 110, with 43 shares holding on to the last levels.

Nishat Mills topped the list of actives, up 95 paisa at Rs52 on 25m shares followed by OGDC, off Rs1.20 at Rs65 on 17m shares, PTCL, lower 35 paisa at Rs40.20 on 14m shares, Askari Bank, up 25 paisa at Rs87.50 on 11m shares, Bosicor Pakistan, up 45 paisa at Rs18.35 on 8m shares and National Bank, easy 65 paisa at Rs70.45 on 7m shares.

Other actives were led by Fauji Cement, lower 45 paisa on 6m shares, ICI Pakistan, off 65 paisa also on 6m shares, D.G. Khan Cement, lower 36 paisa on 5m shares, MCB, off 65 paisa on 5m shares and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, easy 55 paisa also on 5m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Bearish conditions also prevailed on the cleared list as all the leading shares came in for renewed selling and fell sharply lower under the lead of PPL, off Rs2.20 at Rs120.80 on 11m shares.

Other blue chips, including OGDC, also fell by Rs1.40 at Rs65.25 on 16m shares, PTCL, easy 35 paisa at Rs40.20 on 14m shares, D.G. Khan Cement, off 95 paisa at Rs51.30 on 5m shares and Pakistan Oilfields ahead of its quarterly meeting, sharply lower by Rs6.40 at Rs204.50 on 3m shares.

DEFAULTER COUNTER: Trading remained insipid as investors kept to the sidelines most of the time and generally played safe. Price changes were fractional amid slow dealings.

Crescent Standard Bank was and exception, which came in for active selling at the higher level and fell by 10 paisa at Rs10 on 0.122 m shares.