KARACHI, Dec 27: The shares market on Tuesday passed through another lean session in the absence of strong demand from any of the active quarters owing perhaps to year-end considerations.
The entire activity appears to be a jobbing affair as jobbers and short-term dealers played on both sides of the fence amid alternative bouts of buying and selling on small margins of profits.Unlike the previous sessions of the fading years, there was no special feature, both in terms of gains or big turnover in individual shares.
The KSE 100-share index managed to finish with a fresh fractional gain of 1.03 points at 121,311.38 points as compared to 11,310.35 a day earlier as some of the base shares managed to finish further higher on stray support.
Barring modest short-covering in Fauji Fertiliser, which kept the benchmark in a bit steady mood, all other leading shares fell under the lead of oil shares, with the exception of Shell Pakistan and Pakistan Refinery and some others.
Much of the activity remained confined to the low-priced shares, indicating that investors were not inclined to take financial risk in an uncertain political condition, analyst Ahsan Mehanti said.
That is perhaps why the broader market stayed week for the second session in a row, although the market managed to avert major fall in the absence of institutional support, he said.
Analyst Samar Iqbal said in the absence of any market trigger from any quarter, the performance of the market was far below normal and it owes its weakness to the developing political scenario.
Among the top gainers, Nestle Pakistan and Unilever Pakistan were leading, up by Rs148.49 and 146.80, while losers were led by Rafhan Maize and Tri-Pack Films, off Rs75.83 and 2.82.
Trading volume rose to 19.577m shares from the previous 18m shares but losers held a lead over the gainers at 104 to 86, with 108 shares remaining unchanged.
The active list was again topped by Fatima Fertiliser, easy 16 paisa at 22.96 pm 3m shares, followed by Arif Habib Corporation, lower by 27 paisa at 26.70 on 2m shares, Pak Reinsurance, steady by six paisa at 14.56 on 1.029m shares, Engro Foods, unchanged at 23.00 on 1.005m shares, JS & Co, easy five paisa at 4.07 on 0.937m shares, Engro Corporation, lower by 32 paisa at 97.97 on 0.901m shares, and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, off 44 paisa at 46.30 on 0.884m shares.
They were followed by Al-Abbas Cement, lower by 22 paisa at 2.32 on 0.820m shares, Fauji Fertiliser, higher by Rs1.08 at 154.05 on 0.740m shares and DG Khan Cement, firm by one paisa at 18.83 on 0.419m shares.
FUTURE CONTRACT: The active list was again led by both the settlements of Engro Corporation, off by 93 and 46 paisa respectively at 99.04 and 98.04 on 0.562 and 0.531m shares, followed by Fauji Fertiliser, lower 44 paisa at 46.45 on 0.288m shares. DG Khan Cement on the other hand rose by nine paisa at 18.89 on 0.257m shares and Fauji Fertiliser, higher by Rs1.03 at 154.38 on 0.254m shares.
DEFAULTER COS: SS Oil led the list of actives on this counter, up 40 paisa at 6.50 on 20,000 shares followed by Genertech Power, lower four paisa at 0.27 on 30,012 shares and Dost Steel, easy by three paisa at 1.10 on 8,000 shares.
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.