June 25, 2006	Sunday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1427

KARACHI, June 24: After having fallen sharply lower during the last couple of weeks, CFS rates on the Karachi Stock Exchange last week showed a modest increase to 13.9pc from the previous 12.8pc as demand for funds rose owing to a rising share values.

Analysts at a leading research house demand for fund under CFS also showed a considerable improvement rising to Rs16.99bn from the previous Rs10.9bn, reflecting that retail investors remained active in the market.

“Both the CFS rates and financing should have risen further higher but Friday’s massive selling caused by annulment of Pakistan Steel deal by the Supreme Court scared investors away from the share market at least for the near-term, they said.

Open interest in futures on the other hand fell by about Rs870m from the previous week, while future spreads have fallen into the negative zone because the next week is a rollover for the matured June settlements.