October 25, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 12, 1428

KARACHI, Oct 24: Stocks on Wednesday showed widespread decline as selling pressure further intensified after some leading punters joined the losing club for good reasons too and liquidate in part long positions. The KSE 100-share index was off 266 points or about two per cent at 14,260.86.

“The speculative squeeze on the price line was loosened after eight-weeks sustained run-up on the perception that there is no reason to hold on to previous positions in the changing political scenario,” analysts said, adding “followed by sell-off in the brand name of technical correction”.

The KSE 100-share index, therefore, remained under pressure as investors continued to liquidate long positions apparently fearing political deadlock and many did not like to ride the fresh wave of uncertainty.

“I don’t say the late panic selling came from the foreign investors but some of them were said to be in the row shedding extra weight,” said a leading analyst quoting some institutional traders, adding “the important thing was there were buyers at each dip”.

During the last three sessions, the index has fallen by about 500 points or 3.5 per cent under the pressure of technical correction but analysts are unclear whether or not it needs fresh pruning in the coming sessions, said a leading broker.

It finally finished with a fresh fall of about two per cent at 14,260.86 as compared to 14,526.52 a day earlier, reflecting the distinct weakness of the leading base shares and eroding Rs77bn from the market capital at Rs4,347 billion. Its junior partner the 30-share index was off 419 points at 17,106 points.

Leading oil and cement shares again received a massive battering as their current levels still ensure handsome capital gains. “Put it there is no harm to cash in on the available margin of profits only to cover positions at the falling prices,” a broker said.

The opening was, however, on the higher side as the index early hit the session’s high of 14,619 on strong early support but the mid-session witnessed a spate of selling followed by conflicting reports about the political manoeuvring and fell to hit the lowest for the day at 14,198.00.

Although sell-off was fairly aggressive, some of the leading shares managed to finish with fresh gains, under the lead of JS & Co and Siemens Pakistan, up by Rs29.85 and Rs93, followed by Capital Securities, JS Global, Gatron Industries, KSB Pumps, Exide Pakistan, Shezan International, Pakistan Engineering, Pakistan Resource Co and Dawood Hercules, which posted gains ranging from Rs5.26 to Rs14.

Adamjee Insurance and National Refinery led the list of declining issues, off Rs20.25 and Rs20.50 respectively. Other prominent losers included Arif Habib Ltd, MCB, IGI Insurance, Attock Refinery, Attock Petroleum, National Refinery, Mari Gas, Pakistan Oilfields, Engro Chemical, ICI Pakistan, Packages and Nestle Pakistan, off by Rs10.50 to Rs20.

Trading volume was maintained at the overnight level of 361m shares but losers forced a strong lead over the gainers at 240 to 133, with 24 shares holding on to the last levels.

Bank Alfalah came in for active short-covering on reports of higher earnings and topped the list of actives, up by Rs2.50 at Rs61.70 on 25m shares followed by Arif Habib Securities, off Rs8.85 at Rs172.70 on 23m shares and OGDC, lower Rs2.60 at Rs123.50 also on 23m shares,

Bank of Punjab, easy by 40 paisa at Rs103.70 on 20m shares, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, lower by Rs2.40 at Rs46.20 on 15m shares, D.G. Khan Cement, easy Rs5.50 at Rs105.45 on 13m shares and Lucky Cement, off Rs6.65 at Rs127.05 on 12m shares.

Other actives were led by TRG Pakistan, lower 20 paisa on 15m shares, followed by NIB Bank, easy by Rs1.20 on 12m shares and Engro Chemical, off Rs10.60 also on 12m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Lucky Cement led the list of actives, off Rs6.65 at Rs126.85 on 6m shares, followed by D.G. Khan Cement, lower by Rs5.55 at Rs105.45 on 5m shares and OGDC, off Rs3 at Rs123.50 also on 5m shares.

November settlements of Lucky Cement and OGDC also closed lower at Rs127.21 and Rs124.40 respectively.

DEFAULTER COMAPNIES: Zeal Pak Cement came in for active selling and was marked down by 20 paisa at Rs5.65 on 8.664m shares followed by Nimir Chemical, easy 25 paisa at Rs4.55 on 2.667m shares and Norrie Textiles, off 40 paisa at Rs1.90 on 0.770m shares.

Japan Power also attracted fresh selling and was marked down by 10 paisa at Rs8.70 on 0.526m shares. Others also fell where changed on stray selling.