KARACHI, June 17: Stocks on Friday resisted fresh decline followed by an active short-covering at lower levels in most of the oil shares under the lead of PTCL amid hopes that its Saturday’s sell-off date will be maintained.

What seems to have given credence to this perception was reports that three foreign companies have already deposited earnest money of $40 million each to qualify for the final bidding.

The weekend rally always paves the way for a strong turnaround after the trading resumes next week and analysts predict there could be many surprises if the bidders offered competitive price for the 26 per cent controlling shares of PTCL on Saturday.

After earlier moving either-way, the KSE 100-share index finally managed to end with a gain of 67.82 points at 7,398.73, as compared to 7,330.91 a day earlier.

Out of the six short-listed companies, only Etisalat of the UAE, China Mobile and SingTel of Singapore have deposited the earnest money, while there is no word from the others. A Kuwaiti company has already withdrawn its offer to bid.

The bidding for 26 per cent shares on June 18 will be held amid the prevailing turmoil in the backdrop of a strike by some of the union factions and indications are that the bidders may have taken all the related post-sell-off implications before opting for bidding.

A Saudi group that had offered the highest bid for the purchase of controlling shares of KESC last month did not deposit the money and is reported to have sought extension apparently for identical reasons.

“But the government appears to be bent upon to go with the sell-off of PTCL, as any deviation from the declared privatization position could have a negative impact on the sale of other mega projects, notably PSO and Pakistan Petroleum,” analysts said.

Saturday could be a big day in Pakistan’s corporate history if the Privatization Commission gets a competitive offer of about $2.20 per share for PTCL, now trading at around Rs70. A couple of weeks ago it was quoted well above Rs90 for its share value of Rs23, including a premium of Rs13.

Other leading shares, notably PSO, Pakistan Petroleum, OGDC, National Bank, MCB, Kot Addu Power Company, which is increasing its generation capacity from the current 1,600mw, and DG Khan Cement, also attracted good support and rose appreciably.

Leading gainers were led by Attock Petroleum, Gatron Industries, Dawood Hercules, Pakistan Refinery, EFU Life, Mari Gas and National Refinery, which posted gains ranging from Rs7 to Rs15.40, but the largest rise of Rs31 was noted in Siemens Pakistan.

Other good gainers were led by Arif Habib Securities, PSO, Shell Pakistan, Pakistan Petroleum and Zulfiqar Industries, higher by Rs4 to Rs5.60.

Prominent losers included Abbott Lab, Glaxo-SKF, EFU General, IGI Insurance, United Sugar and Artistic Denim, off Rs3.90 to Rs9.90.

Trading volume rose to 260m shares from the previous 223m shares as gainers held a fair lead over losers at 146 to 96, with 29 shares holding on to the last levels.

Bulk of the volume went to the credit of PTCL, up 30 paisa at Rs67.30 on 127m shares, followed by OGDC, higher by Rs1.95 at Rs103.65 on 44m shares, National Bank, lower 40 paisa at Rs101.10 on 17m shares, Pakistan Petroleum, higher Rs4.90 at Rs213.50 on 15m shares, and PSO, up Rs5.60 at Rs375.60 also on 15m shares.

Other actives included Kot Addu Power, lower 65 paisa on 5m shares, Bank of Punjab, up Rs1.60 on 3m shares, Pakistan Oilfields, easy by 20 paisa also on 3m shares, DG Khan Cement, up 60 paisa on 3m shares, and Attock Petroleum, sharply higher by Rs7 also on 3m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: PTCL again led the list of actives, up 40 paisa at Rs67.95 on 27m shares followed by OGDC, higher by Rs1.80 at Rs103.90 on 18m shares, PPL, up Rs4 at Rs214 on 15m shares, PSO, higher by Rs6.25 at Rs378.25 on 9m shares and National Bank, off 55 paisa at Rs101.75 on 2m shares.