October 06, 2007	Saturday	Ramazan 23, 1428

KARACHI, Oct 5: The share market on Friday maintained its uppish leaning owing to strong buying in the leading bank and other shares but foreign investors remained conspicuous by their absence ahead of the apex court ruling on the presidential election later in the afternoon.

The market is expected to maintain its current upward drive by the next week as Supreme Court ruling after Juma prayers allowed holding of presidential election on Oct 6, with certain conditions, including withholding of official results, pending the final verdict on the petitions.

The notable feature was that the market credibly absorbed the weakness of the cement sector followed by reports of well over 50 per cent fall in its profitability.

Earlier, the underlying sentiment was, however, a bit nervous ahead of expected apex court ruling on the eligibility of President Musharraf as a candidate for the top slot and talk of stay or postponement of the election, floor brokers said.

The prevailing uncertainty amid conflicting reports was also well-reflected in the status quo maintained by the KSE 100-share index in apparent effort to absorb negative or positive impact of the apex court ruling on the share market, they said.

It closed with a fractional fall of 0.64 points at 14,099.30 as compared to previous 14,099.94 a day earlier after opening higher followed by reports of deal with Benazir Bhutto, hitting the session’s peak at 14,272.85 and low at 14,026.52 points.

“Possibly by the next week the market would decide whether or not to go with the legal battle or play safe on the strength of its corporate fundamentals,” said a leading analyst Ahsan Mehanti.

But Ashraf Zakaria said the market needs peace and if the current uncertainty continues the performance of the market may remain erratic but if the current move of national reconciliation is strictly adhered to, there could be another boom like conditions on the share market.

Among the top gainers, Colgate Pakistan and Pakistan Resource Co were leading, up by Rs18.95 and Rs19.15, followed by Allied Bank, EFU Life, Sapphire Textiles and Fibres, Fazal Textiles, Glaxo-SKF, Sanofi-Aventis, Gillette Pakistan, Bata Pakistan, Pakistan Refinery, Siemens Pakistan and Sitara Chemical, which rose by Rs5 to Rs12.70.

Leading losers were led by Nestle Pakistan and JS Global, off by Rs14 and Rs18.75 respectively. Other notable losers included National Foods, National Refinery, Habib Bank, IGI Insurance, Pakistan Oilfields, Indus Motors and AKD Securities, which fell by Rs4.30 to Rs7.

Trading volume showed a modest rise at 290m shares as compared to 288m shares a day earlier as gainers held a strong lead over the losers at 179 to 129, with 42 shares holding on to the last levels.

Askari Bank led the list of actives, up by Rs3.05 at Rs100.25 on 33m shares followed by Bank Alfalah, higher by Rs2.80 at Rs59.15 on 25m shares, National Bank, firm by Rs4 at Rs274.90 on 24m shares and Arif Habib Securities, up by Rs4.90 at Rs144.90 also on 24m shares.

OGDC, lower by Rs1.45 at Rs123.55 on 15m shares, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, steady by 10 paisa at Rs45.90 on 13m shares, NIB Bank, firm by five paisa at Rs21.40 on 12m shares.

Other actives were led by Engro Chemical, lower 70 paisa on 12m shares, WorldCall Telecom, easy by 60 paisa on 11m shares and TRG Pakistan, off 35 paisa also on 11m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Bank of Punjab led the list of actives on the cleared list and was quoted higher by 20 paisa at Rs106.25 on 12m shares followed by D.G. Khan Cement, off Rs2.30 at Rs112.20 on 10m shares and National Bank, up by Rs3.25 at Rs274.30 on 9m shares.

Lucky Cement, followed them off Rs3.15 at Rs134.50 on 5m shares and Bank Alfalah, up by 80 paisa at Rs59.35 on 5m shares.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Zeal Pak Cement led the list of actives on this counter, lower by five paisa at Rs4.45 on 3.950m shares followed by Japan Power, easy also by five paisa at Rs9.45 on 2.769m shares and Nimir Chemical, unchanged at Rs3.95 on 0.302m shares. Norrie Textiles was also quoted unchanged at Rs2.15 on 0.117m shares.

DIVIDEND: Mehmood Textiles, cash 40 per cent, Quetta Textiles, 15 per cent, Goodluck Industries, 20 per cent, Idrees Textiles 10 per cent, Fatima Enterprises five per cent.