March 30, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1429

KARACHI, March 29: The CFS (continuous funding system) rates on the Karachi Stock Exchange showed a modest increase of 92 basis points as demand for fresh credit lines remained on the higher side.

A leading analyst Saad Arshad Raja at the Invest Capital research house attributed the rise to optimism witnessed on the market after the cash margin waiver on CFS investment under Mk-II, up to Rs85 billion to be operative on April 7.

After having remained at an average rate of 11.5pc for the last several weeks, the rate crossed the barrier of 12pc at 12.10, indicating it could rise further ahead of the deadline of April 7, he feels.

But on the other hand CFS investment suffered a decline of Rs0.22 billion at Rs54.39 billion, bulk of which went to the credit of top five companies under the lead of National Bank, Pakistan Oilfields, Askari Bank, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd.

Open interest in April future contracts showed a fall of 17 per cent at Rs12.88 billion but future spreads posted an increase of 14 basis points at 7.05 per cent, he said.