KARACHI, Nov 13: The election-aided overnight rally faltered halfway on Tuesday as investors took profits at the inflated levels on selling triggered by the Commonwealth’s ultimatum to President Musharraf to lift emergency or face suspension from the 53-nation grouping.
The immediate investor worry was, however, appeared to be the Commonwealth warning on emergency issue on the perception that the suspension could have negative fallout on the economy involving financial risks, analyst Hasnain Asghar Ali said.
After showing highly erratic two-way movement of 200 points, the KSE 100-share index managed to finish well above the session’s low of 13,540.38 at 13,621.09, but well below the peak of 13,738.36, off 34.38 points.
The massive volatility reflected that investors were unsure about the direction of the market even for short-term and opted for playing safe.
The index’s late boost from the early low was aided by GDR-related buying in the MCB and some other bank shares barring National Bank, but leading oil shares including OGDC were marked down on renewed selling.
Heating up of the local political scenario in the backdrop of Benazir’s proposed long march on Islamabad followed by her house arrest and some other negative developments seemed to have robbed investors of the buying enthusiasm linked to the announcement of election date, analysts said.
“Why one should put his money in an uncertain market,” an analyst said, adding “the changing political scenario kept investors at their toes all the time and tension sans fair return on investment,” Asharf Zakria said.
But Ahsan Mehanti said the important thing was that investors were in the arena keeping the wheels moving.
Minus signs dominated the list under the lead of Bata Pakistan and Siemens Pakistan, off Rs22.95 and Rs85, followed by PSO, on reports of fall in international oil prices, Murree Brewery, Pakistan Engineering, Mitchell’s Fruits, Noon Pakistan, Pakistan Resource Co, KSB Pumps, Pakistan Refinery, JS & Co and Shezan International, which suffered fall ranging from Rs6.25 to Rs18.50.
But on the other hand some leading shares notably Unilever Pakistan and Wyeth Pakistan managed to finish higher by Rs23 and Rs70. Other good gainers included MCB, IGI Insurance, EFU Life, Arif Habib Ltd, Pak-Suzuki Motors, Ferozsons Lab, Glaxo-SKF, Clariant Pakistan, AKD Securities, Sanofi-Aventis, HinoPak Motors and Nestle Pakistan, which rose by Rs5.65 to Rs15.
Trading volume was light around the overnight level of 220m shares as losers held a comfortable lead over the gainers at 189 to 160, with 33 shares holding on to the last levels.
TRG again topped the list of actives, lower 45 paisa at Rs13.45 on 15m shares, followed by Bank of Punjab, up Rs2 at Rs96.10 on 12m shares, Attock Refinery, easy 25 paisa at Rs279.95 on 11m shares and OGDC, lower 80 paisa at Rs116.10 also on 11m shares.
Arif Habib Securities, up by Rs2.55 at Rs168.15 on 10m shares, MCB, higher by Rs6.15 at Rs359.15 also on 10m shares and National Bank, off Rs2.25 at Rs237 on 9m shares.
Other actives were led by Javed Omer, off Rs2.15 on 9m shares, followed by Lucky Cement, easy by 80 paisa also on 9m shares and NIB Bank, lower 10 paisa on 8m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: MCB came in for active short-covering and rose by Rs5.55 at Rs360.50 on 8m shares followed by National Bank, lower by Rs2.15 at Rs238.35on 5m shares and Bank of Punjab, up by Rs1.75 at Rs96.50 on 4m shares.
Lucky Cement followed them, off 55 paisa at Rs120.60 on 4m shares and OGDC, easy by 80 paisa at Rs116.75 on 3m shares.
DEFAULTER COMAPANIES: Zeal-Pak cement led the list of actives on the cleared list and was marked down by 10 paisa at Rs4.95 on 4.338m shares followed by Japan Power, up by 20 paisa at Rs8.40 on 0.579m shares and Redco Textiles, firm by 15 paisa at Rs2.25 on 0.313m shares.
Norrie Textiles followed them, steady five paisa at Rs1.95 on 0.225m shares, Unity Modaraba, unchanged at 85 paisa on 0.223m shares and Quice Foods, lower by five paisa at Rs5.80 on 0.177m shares.
