KARACHI, Aug 2: The investment under continuous funding system (CFS) including MK-II on the Karachi Stock Exchange last week suffered a sharp decline of 46.3 per cent at Rs26.9 billion as leading investors remained conspicuous by their absence in a falling share market, analysts said.

The figure at Rs26.9 billion is lowest for the last couple of weeks average Rs30 billion plus and reflects the fading interest of general investors in the share business at least for the near term, they said.

The CFS MK-II rate fell fractionally in sympathy but stood firm around 14.52 per cent close to the prevailing bank rates after the one per cent hike in discount rate by the central bank early in the week to 13 per cent, they said and attributed the fall to a relative slowdown in Karachi Inter-bank Offered Rates (Kibor).

But on the other hand CFS rates rose by three basis points to 15.28 per cent aided by mid-week snap rally, which enhanced demand for fresh credit lines by some leading investors, another analyst said.

The top major five borrowers included Arif Habib Securities, National Bank, Pakistan Oilfields, JS & Co, and Adamjee Insurance.

The open interest on the forward counter also stood at Rs6.13 billion, while future spreads settled at 11.39 per cent, off 152 basis points because of rollover week.