KARACHI, Nov 11: The volume figure fell to another single-session low at 24,500 shares on Tuesday as investors were not inclined to make fresh commitments on any of the counters, worried apparently over massive money laundering scam and its likely negative impact on future stock trading.

“The share and the money market is interlinked in more than one ways and any financial scam in one of them affects the other sometimes immediately or sometimes after the official probe,” said a leading analyst.

The steep decline in the turnover figure from the previous single-session low of 78,500 shares hit on Nov 7, 2008, to 24,500 shares may have relevance to the developing situation on the illegal transfer of dollars to various countries by the alleged money changers.

But some others said the news of default of two brokers of the Karachi Stock Exchange for their failure to meet their payments obligations was one of the causes behind the falling volumes and keeping investors out of the market.

What worried investors more was a loud whispering that some other members may follow suit as they too have financial problems in a market passing through a massive liquidity crunch, they added.

“The news of default echoed in the trading hall throughout the session amid fears that the current money laundering scam could further aggravate the situation as an alternative source of funds has dried up,” they added.

The market, therefore, passed through another dull trading session as investors kept to the sidelines apparently digesting the negative fallout of the reported default by two of the prominent brokers and financial scam.

No one could deny the fact that the market is the victim of pressure on money supply and higher borrowing rates under the CFS-2, dealers said and until the proposed market support fund was made active trading on the stock market may continue to shrink further.

It was in this background that the benchmark KSE 100-share index remained static at 9,183.14 points for the last about two weeks and its junior partner 30-share index followed it but the KSE all-share index rose by 0.31 points at 6,639.32, reflecting that the broader market is a bit steady.

Price changes were fractional as only eight shares came in for trading, out of which three ended higher, while one fell, with four holding on to the last levels amid a turnover figure of 24,500 shares.

Nimir Chemical, led the list of actives, static at Rs.5.05 on 10,000 shares followed by Ghribwal Cement, up 45 paisa at Rs17.45 on 5,000 shares, Southern Electric, steady by four paisa at Rs3.70 on 4,000 shares, Tri-Star Polyester lower by 21 paisa at Rs1.64 on 2,500 shares, and East-West Insurance Life, static at Rs7 on 1,000 share.

Other actives were led by Eye TV, unchanged at Rs39.71 on 1,000 shares, Bawany Air, static at Rs6.30 on 500 shares and Habib-ADM, higher by 67 paisa at Rs10.24 also on 500 shares.

CLEARED LIST: Owing to default of the two members, speculative traders did not opt for fresh buying and were worried over the rumours that some more members may default owing to their unsettled higher leveraged positions. DEFAULTER COs: Unlike the previous sessions, trading on this counter remained listless as no share came in for trading for the first time after several months, reflecting the investor thinking on the developing situation.