KARACHI: Stocks on Tuesday failed to extend the overnight robust recovery as foreign investors hastened unloading their long positions in the banking and oil sectors at the available margins despite the fact of a tangible improvement in the law and order situation.

The opening was, however, pretty encouraging as the KSE 100-share index resumed the session with an extended gain of 100 points at the intra-day high of 9,476.48, but the mid-session witness a lot of selling both from foreign and the local participants, analysts said and added that there was stray buying at the dips though it was too feeble to reverse the trend. However the strong covering purchases in insurance, auto, pharmaceutical and cement sectors failed to keep investors in the market as they took profits toward the close of the session.

The 100-index ended the session with 58.81 points fall at 9,316.69 as compared to 9,374.50 a day earlier and the KSE 30-share index suffered a fall of 93.85 points at 9,829.49.

‘Falling turnover figure did worry brokerage houses and it soared to 250m or 300m shares, the market performance may remain terribly lean and devoid of any special feature,’ analyst Ahsan Mehanti said.

Although the situation on the law and order front is gradually showing signs of an improvement in the wake of army operation in South Waziristan, but the market needs a total calm on that front, he added.

Another leading analyst Hasnain Asghar Ali holds the same view and said ‘owing to an improvement in the law and order situation, the element of panic among the investors is losing its relevance but economic worries including high government borrowing are there.’

Analysts Faisal A. Rajabali foresee a future volatile market as investors may think twice before making long-term investment even at the current lows until peace returns to the tribal areas. Among the top gainers, Unilever Foods and Dreamworld leading, up by Rs30 and Rs26.98 followed by Adamjee Insurance, EFU Life, IGI, Lakson Tobacco, PECO, HinoPak, Atlas Battery, Excise Battery, Siemens Pakistan, Shezan International, Service Industries, Clariant Pakistan and Colgate Pakistan, which posted fresh gains ranging from Rs5.50 to Rs15.92.

Prominent losers included Rafhan Maize and East West Insurance, off Rs40 and Rs14.94. Other notable losers included MCB Bank, Fazal Textiles, Sapphire Fibres, Javedan Cement, Pakistan Oilfields, Sitara Chemical, and Treet Corporation, off by Rs4.73 to Rs10.

Turnover figure fell to 166.340m shares from the previous 196m shares as losers forced a strong lead over the gainers at 221 to 185, with 19 shares holding on to the last levels.

The active list was again topped by Pak PTA amid alternate bouts of buying and selling partly on talk of management change and partly to report of higher earning, easy by 36 paisa at Rs6.33 on 25m shares followed by Arif Habib Securities, up by Rs2.50 at Rs53.92 on 16m shares and JS & Co, lower 23 paisa at Rs35.81 on 13m shares.

OGDC, easy by 22 paisa at Rs108 on 9m shares, Lucky Cement, up Rs2.44 at Rs68.32 on 7m shares, D.G. Khan Cement, steady by 67 paisa at Rs29.27 on 6m shares and Bank Alfalah, lower by 40 paisa at Rs13.76 on 6m shares.

Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim was marked down by 17 paisa at Rs25.05 on 5m shares followed by National Bank, off Rs1.73 at Rs82.30 also on 5m shares and Nishat Mills, firm by 29 paisa at Rs60.94 on 4m shares.

FUTURE CONTRACTS:

Both the settlements of OGDC again led the list of active on the cleared list and were quoted higher by 26 and 30 paisa for both the October and November settlements at Rs108.02 and Rs108.05 on 0.370m and 0.367m shares respectively.

Lucky Cement and D.G. Khan Cement followed them, up Rs2.23 and 52 paisa at Rs68.32 and Rs29.23 respectively on 0.367m and 0.293m shares followed by National Bank, off Rs1.51 at Rs82.66 on 0.133m shares.