KARACH, Dec 23: The KSE 100-share index on Tuesday breached through the barrier of 7,000 and was quoted lower by another 293.31 points or 4.06 per cent at 6,924.15 on renewed selling on the blue chip counters amid heightened tensions with India.

Earlier analysts were eyeing resistance level at 6,500 or slightly below it, said a leading broker, but added that the situation had undergone a drastic change both on the political and the economic front in the backdrop of Mumbai incident.

What could be its next resistance level is hard to predict at this stage, although analysts still insist on the 6,000-level if war fears with India subside and the market support fund makes it debut and sanity prevails among the foreign investors.

After having fallen to four figures from the 15,000 points since the current sell-off started some five months back, the future trend will be dictated by the objective conditions on the political front, some others think.

The KSE 30-share and the KSE All-Share index continued their downward drift and suffered fresh fall of 376.32 (5.16pc) and 203.15 points (3.83pc) respectively owing to the weakness of the leading base shares.

Analysts say reports of Indian military buildup along Rajasthan border and protective steps taken by Pakistan in case New Delhi violates airspace or attacks, kept investors at their toes all the time as they could not precisely decide how to react to the developing situation.“Even the saner members of the brokerage houses were worried over the Indian threats despite the fact that they are of the view that war appears to be a distant possibility,” they said.

Another disturbing factor was a rumour that many brokers may be rendered defaulter after the dismissal of their petition by the Sindh High Court about bank guarantee of Rs7 billion.

The market decline was again led by the oil sector followed by blue chips on the other counters, major losers being National Refinery, PSO, Pakistan Petroleum, Pakistan Petroleum, Pakistan Oilfields, MCB Bank, Adamjee Insurance, Indus Motors, PECO, BOC Pakistan and Packages, falling by Rs5.21 to Rs13.14.

But largest decline of Rs59.50 was noted in Siemens Pakistan which remained dormant during the current sell-off.

Leading gainers included Unilever Pakistan and Millat Tractors, up by Rs34.50 and Rs5.92, followed by Balochistan Glass, Modaraba Al-Mali and Tri-Star Modaraba, higher by 69 to 99 paisa.

Trading volume showed modest fall at 27m shares from the previous 28m shares as losers held a strong lead over the gainers at 165 to 17, out of total 182 actives.

Maple Leaf Cement topped the list of actives, up by 14 paisa at Rs2.73 on 5m shares followed by NIB Bank, off 59 paisa at Rs3.64 on 4m shares, TRG Pakistan, lower by 35 paisa at Rs1.62 on 2m shares, Arif Habib Bank, off 97 paisa at Rs4 also on 2m shares, Pakistan Cement, easy by 45 paisa at Rs2.08 on 0.949m shares and WorldCall Telecom, off 54 paisa at R2.99 on 0.922m shares.

Pak PTA followed them, lower by 30 paisa at Rs1.48 on 0.899m shares, Bosicor Pakistan, easy by 64 paisa at Rs3.72 on 0.782m shares and Nimir Chemical, lower by 21 paisa at Rs1.32 on 0.684m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: All leaders on this counter suffered fresh fall but there was no deals in any of the shares.

Allied Bank and Bank of Punjab were leading among them, which came in for stray support but failed to attract any buyer.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Zeal Pak Cement came in for active selling and fell 13 paisa at Rs0.47 on 2.680m shares followed by Japan Power, lower by 15 paisa at Rs1.40 on 0.211m shares, Unity Modaraba, easy by five paisa at Rs0.25 on 53,000 shares and Mukhtar Textile, lower by 10 paisa at Rs0.25 on 26,000 shares.

Others, including National Asset Leasing, Nazir Cotton, Quice Foods and Service Fabrics also fell but Jubilee Spinning and Invest and Invest Bank managed to finish with gains ranging from 25 to 37 paisa at Rs3 and Rs2.05 respectively.