October 10, 2006	Tuesday	Ramazan 16, 1427

KARACHI, Oct 9: The KSE 100-share index on Monday briefly breached through the psychological barrier of 11,000 points on the strength of active buying in leading oil shares but failed to sustain it owing to across the board selling in the banking sector.It briefly crossed the barrier and was quoted at 11,016.39 but mid-session selling in bank shares pushed it down to close at 10,942.75, up 15.84 points as compared to weekend close of 10,926.91 points. Sharp rise in OGDC, Pakistan Petroleum and Pakistan Oilfields compensated for the index loss caused by selling MCB and National Bank.

“It is a rare phenomenon that the market trend is being guided by the banking and oil sectors, as leading investors seemed to have confined themselves in the two and an inter-play between them sets the market trend,” analyst Ahsan Mehanti said.Asian stock and currency markets reacted bearishly to the North Korea’s nuclear test on fears of sanctions or military action under the UN resolution but local stocks ignored it, he added.

The opening was on the higher side, what the dealers called, an extension of the weekend run-up but the mid-session witnessed a good bit of profit-taking in the banking and other high-profile shares, limiting the market sustained run-up.

The KSE 30-share index on the other hand suffered a fall of 53.13 points at 13,560.83, as some of the leading base shares were marked down on selling.

“The fall in banking spreads, which could lead to a considerable shrinkage in the profits of banks based on deposit-advance ratio, was one of the factors behind the selling in bank shares,” Faisal Abbas, a leading stock analyst said. “The fall in MCB and National Bank evoked a lot of sympathetic selling on the other blue chip counters.”

But some others said it was a technical correction long-overdue as the market was in an overbought position owing to sustained rise during the last couple of weeks.

“There is perceptible change in the investor portfolio building as most of them are taking massive stakes in the oil sector after having made partial unloading in the banking sector,” another leading stock analyst Zia Javaid said.

He said buying euphoria in the banking sector was also progressively fading out in the absence of fresh news about the foreign interest in any one of its weaker links and the consequent quiet triggered selling by day traders and jobbers.

However, the question is being debated among the analysts whether or not the current run-up has run its course. Opinions are divided on the perception that developing situation on the external front would have to be taken into consideration to reach a logical conclusion about the market’s future direction.

As far as corporate background news are concerned they are very encouraging and could keep the market in a positive shape in the weeks to come, some others said.

Artistic Denim and Arif Habib Securities led the list of leading gainers, up Rs11.20 and Rs19.90, respectively, followed by Sui Northern Gas, KSB Pumps, Mari Gas, Pakistan Oilfields, Pak-Suzuki Motors, Clover Pakistan, National Refinery, Jahangir Siddiqui & Co, Pakistan Petroleum and Millat Tractors, which posted gains ranging from Rs4 to Rs10.

Prominent losers were led by Grays of Cambridge and Unilever Pakistan, off Rs10 and Rs25, respectively. Other notable losers included National Bank, MCB, Central Insurance, IGI Insurance, Nishat Mills, Pakistan Refinery, Pakistan Cables, Glaxo-SKF, Engro Chemical, off by Rs4 to Rs8.75.

Trading volume suffered a modest fall at 187m shares as compared to 204m shares at the last weekend as losers forced a comfortable lead over gainers at 168 to 137, with 30 shares holding on to the last levels.

OGDC topped the list of actives, up Rs1.35 at Rs137.20 on 20m shares followed by Pakistan Petroleum, higher by Rs8.30 at Rs250 on 17m shares, DG Khan Cement, lower 25 paisa at Rs101 on 16m shares, National Bank, off Rs4.50 at Rs267.00 on 13m shares, MCB, sharply lower by Rs7.60 at Rs265 on 10m shares, Bank Alfalah, off Rs2.40 at Rs46.35 on 9m shares and PTCL, up 15 paisa at Rs42.40 on 7m shares.

Other actives were led by Lucky Cement, up Rs1.15 on 12m shares, followed by Hub-Power, higher by Rs1.25 on 8m shares, WorldCall Telecom, easy 10 paisa on 5m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Pakistan Petroleum came in active support and rose by Rs9.60 at Rs247 on 5m shares, followed by OGDC, up Rs2.45 at Rs138.45 on 4m shares, and MCB, off Rs7.75 at Rs266 also on 4m shares.

DG Khan Cement followed them, up 65 paisa at Rs91.25 on 4m shares, and Pakistan Oilfields, higher by Rs6.75 at Rs337 also on 4m shares. Others were modestly traded.

DEFAULTER COS: Crescent Standard bank came in for active selling was marked down by 10 paisa at Rs3.90 on 0.538m shares followed by Norrie Textiles, higher by 95 paisa at Rs5.75 on 0.238m shares and Unity Modaraba, lower five paisa at 70 paisa on 0.220m shares.