April 27, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1429

KARACHI, April 26: The CFS rates on the Karachi Stock Exchange last week posted a sharp increase of 181 points at 13.52 per cent after having remained stable below 12 per cent for the last couple of weeks.

A leading research analyst Saad Arshad Raja said although demand for fresh credit line was modest and showed a fractional rise of 26 basis points or Rs142.67 million at Rs54.64 billion, the recent turmoil on the money markets and central bank’s intervention to shore up the falling value of the rupee against the dollar may have driven lenders away until the sanity returns to market.

“The increase in the CFS (continuous funding system) rates may also have been caused owing to rise in borrowers’ demand and lenders’ perception of fresh rise in the coming sessions,” some others said.

The top five companies, which received about 49 per cent of the total amount, were led by Pakistan Oilfields, National Bank, Pakistan Petroleum, Arif Habib Securities and Engro Chemical, they added.

The open interest in futures showed a robust growth of 21 per cent of Rs6.14 billion at Rs35.4 billion from Rs29.27 billion a week earlier as both the matured April and the ruling May contracts were traded during the last week, they said, adding that led to a significant hike in future spreads to 8.73 per cent from the previous 6.60 per cent over the week.