KARACHI, Oct 11: The share market on Thursday closed the last session of the holy month of Ramazan on a mixed note as a section of investors tried to unload a part of their positions ahead of a long weekend on account of Eidul Fitr.
Active GDR-linked offloading by some of the foreign investors in MCB followed by OGDC triggered a lot of sympathetic selling on the other blue chip counters and slowed down the market’s sustained upward drive.
The session witnessed a lot of alternate bouts of buying and selling as the market will now reopen on next Wednesday after having closed from Oct 13 to 16 on account of Eidul Fitr and Oct 12 being Jumatul Wida closure.
The KSE 100-share index finished with a modest fall of 22.28 points at 14,463.78 as compared to previous 14,486.06 as some of the leading base shares came in for active profit-taking and ended lower under the lead of OGDC and MCB. The KSE 30-share index fell by 95.62 points at 17,775.94 points.
But the opening was fairly steady as it early rose to cross the barrier of 14,500 at 14,305 but late selling again pushed it down to close in the minus column.Leading oil shares also suffered modest pruning but strong support at the dips following reports of 21 per cent increase in oil and gas reserves, notably of OGDC, kept them in a good shape allowing the market to resist larger fall.
“The correction was long overdue in a highly oversold market but it was delayed by a combination of positive developments,” said analyst Ashraf Zakaria, adding “the important thing is that there was no panic unloading from any quarter and only a part of extreme positions was shed”.
Bulls seem to be in no mood to loosen their grip on the price line despite four closures ahead until the apex court gives its ruling on the eligibility of Musharraf’s candidacy for his re-election in upcoming sessions, some others said.
Plus signs dominated the list under the lead of Pak-Suzuki Motors and Colgate Pakistan, up by Rs19.45 and Rs23 followed by United Bank, Mirpurkhas Sugar, Lakson Tobacco, Attock Refinery, Shell Gas, ICI Pakistan, Clariant Pakistan, Sitara Chemicals, Grays of Cambridge and Shezan International, which posted gains ranging from Rs7.60 to Rs18, the largest rise being in Shezan International.
Losers were led by Bata Pakistan and Unilever Pakistan, off by Rs21 and Rs50. Shell Pakistan, AKD Securities, Pakistan Services, United Sugar, MCB, EFU Life, Fazal Textiles and Pakistan Resource Co followed them, off by Rs6 to Rs20.25.
Trading volume fell to 303m shares from the previous 357m shares but gainers held a comfortable lead over the losers at 169 to 149, with 46 shares holding on to the last levels.
OGDC led the list of actives, lower by 65 paisa at Rs129.80 on 35m shares followed by Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, steady by Rs1.05 at Rs46.85 on 33m shares, Lucky Cement, sharply higher by Rs3 at Rs137 on 23m shares, Arif Habib Securities, firm by Rs1.80 at Rs161.30 on 21m shares, Bank Alfalah, unchanged at Rs60 on 14m shares and Engro Chemical, higher by Rs4.10 at Rs295.40 on 10m shares.
Other actives were led by TRG Pakistan, steady 15 paisa on 21m shares, followed by WorldCall Telecom, lower 50 paisa on 13m shares, Pak PTA, firm by 15 paisa on 7m shares and NIB Bank, easy by 50 paisa on 6m shares.
FOTWARD COUNTER: D.G. Khan Cement led the list of actives, up by 45 paisa at Rs112.45 on 7m shares followed by Lucky Cement, higher by Rs2.30 at Rs137 also on 7m shares and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, off 90 paisa on 5m shares.
OGDC followed them, lower by 80 paisa at Rs29.75 on 5m shares and MCB, sharply lower by Rs11.75 at Rs374.50 on 4m shares.
DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Nimir Chemical topped the list of actives and came in for active short-covering at the lower level, up by 45 paisa at Rs4.45 on 3.933m shares followed by Zeal-Pak Cement, up 20 paisa at Rs4.80 on 3.791m shares and Japan Power, steady five paisa at Rs9 on 0.559m shares.
Crescent Standard Modaraba also came in for active support and rose by 25 paisa at Rs1.75 on 0.156m shares, while others were modestly traded mostly on the higher side.
DIVIDEND: Sapphire Textiles, cash 15 per cent, Reliance Cotton, 15 per cent, Biafo Industries, 15 per cent, National Bank Modaraba, 12 per cent, Nina Industries, 2.5 per cent and Chenab Ltd, 9.25 per cent.
