July 08, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 22, 1428

KARACHI, July 7: The CFS rates on the Karachi Stock Exchange last week showed a modest decline and finally closed around 12 per cent as money supply position eased, analysts said.

Over the last couple of weeks, the CFS rates were quoted on the higher side between 11.6 and 12.5 per cent as investors’ demand for funds was on the higher side in a bull market, but the Lal Masjid standoff curtailed it for obvious reasons including fall in some of the share values of leading companies, they added.

“But on the other hand the CFS investment did not show much change and remained below the ceiling of Rs55 billion at Rs54.58bn as compared to Rs54.52bn a week earlier,” a leading analyst Ambreen Jiwani said.

About 46 per cent or Rs25.23 billion of the total investment went to the credit of five most liquid shares including Pakistan Petroleum, OGDC, National Bank, Pakistan Oilfields and Lucky Cement, she added.

Open interest in July contracts, however, fell to Rs10.35 billion as against last week’s Rs15.51 billion owing to the winding up of the June settlements, she said.

Future spreads between the ready and forward shares was also lower at 6.2 per cent as compared to 8.3 per cent a week earlier. The decline was attributed to lower spreads in the leading shares, notably MCB, PTCL, OGDC and National Bank.