KARACHI, March 10: After a bullish start on Thursday, stocks ran into snap selling at the fag-end of the session as a section of leading investors took profits at higher levels in some of the leading shares, notably PTCL.
But analysts said the selling might not be a prelude to a big technical shakeout in an overbought market as bulls might not allow a breathing space to bears before hitting the index level of 10,000 points.
The opening was terribly higher what the dealers called an extension of the overnight bullish trend and the index was early up by another 200 points.
But at the fag-end of the session, bears moved in and indulged in a massive selling in PTCL and other pivotals, pushing the KSE 100-share index down by 16.55 points at 9,571.92, as compared to 9,588.47 a day earlier. But the market seems to be playing on a sound footing and bulls are expected to hit back to wipe out the small deficit of 17 points.
The continued massive buying in PTCL, OGDC and some other pivotals has altogether changed the trading pattern for the last about four weeks as no one among the leading punters and financial traders is inclined to move out of them and are making million of rupees daily in the intra-day alternate bouts of buying and selling.
After the index breached through the crucial barrier of 9,000 points this week, the next target of 10,000 now appears not that elusive and could be hit even at the weekend session, analysts said.
PTCL again remained the centre of activity both in terms of early price flare-up and massive volume as judicious blend of both local and foreign buying did not allow the big ones to sit on the sidelines, they said.
“The current buying euphoria in PTCL, which has pushed it price from Rs60 to Rs92 during the last couple of weeks, is apparently based on the market talk of its minimum offered selling price of $2 or $2.2 per share to the prospective bidders,” said a leading broker while commenting on its meteoric rise to new highs. “The government intends to offload its 26 per cent of shares before June this year.”
Late snap selling in it could pave the way for its fresh onward thrust in the sessions to come, as the market may fall back after the index hits its next chart point of 10,000.
Although losers forced a strong lead over gainers, some of the leading shares came in for active support and rose further by Rs7.20 for PPL, Gatron Industries, Rs9, Unilever Pakistan, Rs32, and Noon Pakistan, Rs12.35, followed by IGI, Artistic Denim, Fauji Fertilizer, Associated Industries and Rafhan Maize, up by Rs4 to Rs5.75.
Prominent losers included Javed Omer, PSO, National Refinery and AKD Securities, off Rs9.25 to Rs17 followed by Shell Pakistan, Nishat Chunian, Arif Habib Securities, Indus Dyeing, Sapphire Fibre, and Central Insurance, off Rs5 to Rs7.25.
Trading volume fell from the overnight level of 933m shares to 748m shares, as leading investors held on to their positions rather than riding the bandwagon of sellers. Losers forced a strong lead over gainers at 246 to 99, with 39 shares holding on to the last levels.
PTCL again topped the list of actives but this time on the lower side, off Rs2.95 at Rs87.00 on 180m shares, but OGDC on the other hand maintained its upward drive, up Rs3.50 at Rs163.00 on 147m shares, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, up 90 paisa at Rs33.50 on 80m shares, DG Khan Cement, higher by Rs2.25 at Rs74.50 on 63m shares and National Bank, lower 40 paisa at Rs156.80 on 50m shares.
Other actives were led by Pakistan Oilfields, off Rs1.95 on 32m shares, TRG Pakistan, up 90 paisa on 22m shares, Bank of Punjab, off Rs3.05 on 17m shares, Sui Northern Gas, up 40 paisa on 15m shares and Fauji Cement, easy 10 paisa on 14m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: Barring Fauji Fertilizer, OGDC and PPL, which posted fresh gain ranging from Rs1.20 to Rs9.45, largest being in PPL, other leading shares came in for heavy selling under the lead of Nishat Mills, ICI Pakistan and PSO, which suffered fall ranging from Rs5.50 to Rs23.05.
DEFAULTER COUNTER: Dandot Cement came in for modest support and rose by 10 paisa at Rs11.25 on 0.140m shares, while all others were modestly traded in the absence of active support.
DIVIDEND: Singer Pakistan, cash 12.5 per cent for the year ended Dec 31, 2005.
BOARD MEETINGS: Crescent-Standard Investment Bank on March 14; Pakistan Gum Chemicals on March 17; National Bank on March 18; Suzuki Motorcycles on March 24.
