March 11, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1429

KARACHI, March 10: The share market on Monday resumed trading on a higher note boosted by the perception of political stability in the backdrop of an agreement between the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on a coalition government and some other important issues but late selling on second thoughts over the deal and a possible standoff on the transfer of power pushed the index sharply lower.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index early welcomed the deal and sharply rose to hit the session’s high of 15,145.94, but closing was terribly bearish below the barrier of 15,000 at 14,912.78, off 172.40 points or 1.14 per cent. Its junior partner received bigger battering, off 310.23 points at 18.296.96.

MCB came in for active selling from some of the foreign investors and so did leading oil shares, notably OGDC and Pakistan Oilfields taking the entire market along with them in the minus column, said a leading analyst Faisal A. Rajabali, adding the selling appears to be more technical than genuine.

But some others fear a standoff on the transfer of power as the new political alliance intends to undo some of the major constitutional steps taken by the president, prior to the national election, notably restoration of judiciary and their quit-Musharraf demand.

The market should have welcomed the political accord more as “CFS limit on financing is still there, which intercepts each rise,” said a leading stock analyst, Ashraf Zakaria, “but investors played safe in an overbought market operating in a tight money market.”

But partial withdrawal of foreign investors who had been active buyers on selected counters during the last week is negative development and could take its further toll, he added.

“An independent view of the developing political scenario is that everything would settle down in due course, notably after the new parliament is in session as the current mess will settle down,” Hasnain Asghar Ali, another analyst hopes.

“It is not no-win situation as one of the contenders of power has edge over the other even in case of standoff and is capable of guiding the future course of political events,” another analyst Ahsan Mehanti thinks.

Leading gainers were led by EFU General Insurance, and Packages, up by Rs24.70 and Rs16.91, followed by Pakistan Paper Products, National Foods, Zulfiqar Industries, Arif Habib Ltd, IGI Insurance, Sapphire Fibres and Shell Gas, which posted gains, ranging from Rs5 to Rs10.85.

Siemens Pakistan and AKD Capital topped the losers, off by Rs40 and Rs34.

Other Major losers included Habib Bank, JS Global, Thal Industries, Attock Petroleum, Pakistan Oilfields, Dawood Hercules, Service Industries, Murree Brewery, Treet Corporation, Shezan International and MCB Bank, which suffered a fall, ranging from Rs7.50 to Rs24.

Traded volume fell sharply to 186m shares from the weekend 291m shares as leading investors kept to the sidelines most of the time.

Losers held a strong lead over gainers at 231 to 119, with 37 shares holding on to the last levels.

Lucky Cement led the list of actives, off Rs2.90 at Rs134 on 13 million shares, followed by the OGDC, lower by Rs1.85 at Rs40 also on 13 million shares, MCB Bank, sharply lower by Rs18.75 on nine million shares, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, off by Rs1.05 at Rs45.75 on eight million shares.

Arif Habib Securities, easy by Rs1.10 at Rs176 on seven million shares, Bank Al-Falah, up 15 paisa at Rs61.90 on seven million shares and Pakistan Oilfields, off Rs8.15 at Rs355.85 on six million shares.

Other actives included Dewan Salman, up 15 paisa at Rs10.05 on eight million shares, Azgard Nine, lower by 20 paisa at Rs58.80 on seven million shares and Fauji Fertiliser, off Rs2.25 at Rs140.55 on seven million shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: MCB Bank came in for active selling and was marked down by Rs17.80 at Rs389.40 on 10 million shares, followed by the OGDC, off Rs1.75 at Rs135.20 on five million shares, Lucky Cement, lower by Rs2.30 at Rs134.70 on five million shares and Askari Bank, up 55 paisa at Rs75.95 on five million shares.

DEFAULTER COs: Trading activity on this counter was relatively slow owing to technical correction in the ready section.

Prices generally fell and changed under the lead of Zeal-Pak Cement, lower by 10 paisa at Rs4 on 0.950 million shares.

Norrie Textiles followed it, up five paisa at Rs1.65 on 0.519 million shares, Unity Modaraba, easy 10 paisa at Rs1.20 on 0.379 million shares and Invest Capital Bank, off 65 paisa at Rs6.35 on 0.268 million shares.

DIVIDEND: Universal Insurance, bonus shares at the rate of 40 per cent, BankIslami Pakistan, and Saudi Pak Bank, both nil.