August 16, 2007	Thursday	Sha’aban 2, 1428

KARACHI, Aug 15: The share market on Wednesday staged a modest recovery on active short-covering in the low-priced scrips, but analysts said it was too feeble to be sustained in the subsequent sessions in the absence of strong institutional support.

Leading investors are following the progressive fall in Special Convertible Rupee Account (SCRA) figures which in market parlance reflect the exit or inflow of foreign investment. For the last couple of sessions it is on the decline from its recent high of about $1bn, they said.

The interesting feature was that the KSE did not follow the bearish trend of global markets on US economic worries and staged a modest recovery on active short-covering in cement shares amid hopes of official nod for exports to India and higher earnings by the oil sector.

After rising to 12,817.74 points early in the session, the KSE 100-share index finally ended with a clipped gain of 37.98 points at 12,786.60 as compared to 12,748.62 on Monday. The KSE 30-share index also rose by 42.49 points at 15,279.04.

While the leading base shares, notably MCB, National Bank, Bank Alfalah and some others remained under pressure and fell further. The second-liner did the trick on active short-covering at the lower levels.

“Foreign selling in the high-profile issues continued for the second session in a row but the intriguing factor was that leading local buyers were not inclined to pick it up,” said Ahsan Mehanti.

He said institutional support did figure on selected counters, which allowed the market to resist fresh decline but the undertone was still shaky.

“The market trend is being guided by the political developments and as positive news are lacking investors play safe,” Hasnain Asghar Ali said, adding “negative news are following in quick succession which did not allow investors to take long positions on any of the counters”.

However, most of the local players were not inclined to move from the low-priced shares in an apparent effort to minimise losses if the worst comes, some others said.

Unilever Pakistan and Pakistan Resource Company were among the leading gainers, up by Rs14.05 and Rs20, followed by Arif Habib Securities, Adamjee Insurance, National Refinery, Dawood Hercules, Mari Gas Glaxo-SKF and Tripack Films, which posted gains ranging from Rs6.10 to Rs12.

Losers were led by Rafhan Maize and Wyeth Pakistan, off Rs112 and Rs104. Other notable losers included Javed Omer, JS Global, EFU Life, Attock Petroleum, Pakistan Engineering, HinoPak, which suffered fall ranging from Rs9 to Rs44.65.

Trading volume showed a modest rise at 185m shares as compared to Monday’s 164m shares as gainers held a lead over the losers at 169 to 142, with 22 shares holding on to the last levels.Lucky Cement topped the list of actives, up by Rs2.55 at Rs110.25 0n 13m shares, followed by Bank Alfalah, lower by Rs1.20 at Rs49.25 on 11m shares, OGDC, unchanged at Rs115.25 on 10m shares and Arif Habib Securities, sharply higher by Rs6.10 at Rs128.80 also on 10m shares.

National Bank, off Rs3.35 at Rs235.25 on 10m shares, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, up by Rs1.45 at Rs43.45 on 9m shares and MCB, easy by 15 paisa at Rs289.45 on 5m shares.

Other actives were led by Fauji Cement, up by Re1 on 8m shares, Askari Bank, firm by 35 paisa also on 8m shares and D.G. Khan Cement, up by Rs2.15 on 5m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Lucky Cement led the list of actives on the cleared list and was quoted higher by Rs2.08 at Rs110.10 on 8m shares followed by National Bank, easy 50 paisa at Rs237.35 also on 8m shares and MCB, higher by 50 paisa at Rs291.95 on 5m shares.

D.G. Khan Cement, followed them higher by Rs2.70 at Rs100.20 on 5m shares and Bank of Punjab, up by 50 paisa at Rs92.85 on 3m shares.

DEFAULTER COS: Zeal-Pak Cement came in for active selling and fell by 15 paisa at Rs5.75 on 1.499m shares followed by Nimir Chemical, easy 10 paisa at Rs3.95 on 0.324m shares and Japan Power, lower by 40 paisa at Rs8.60 on 0.243m shares.

Other actives were led by Quice Foods, up by 30 paisa at Rs5.45 on 0.236m shares and S.S. Oils, up by 10 paisa at Rs22.20 on 0.188m shares.

DIVIDEND: Faysal Bank, bonus shares at the rate of 25 per cent.