KARACHI, Aug 24: Stocks on Wednesday finished further lower under the lead of base shares on renewed selling but analysts said the correction was now overdone and the market was poised for a technical turnaround.

In similar conditions as the prevailing one, the switchover from one mode of financing to the other does unsettle the set trading pattern to meet technical demands. There is, however, nothing wrong with underlying sentiment thanks to presence of support at the dips.

The KSE 100-share index shed another 45.53 points at 7,512.34 as compared to 7,557.87 a day earlier, reflecting the weakness of leading base shares notably OGDC, Pakistan Petroleum and PTCL.

It early rose to the day’s peak level of 7,593.92 but fell to close slightly above the day’s low of 7,503.29 on late-selling in the pivotals.

The buying euphoria associated with the end of the standoff on the badla issue may not have faded and investors certainly have a second thought on the long-term positive impact on the future stock trading, analysts said.

But some others said as the Continuous Funding System (CFS) was not yet fully in place and finances were raised under the COT, it would take some time for smooth switchover.

However, no one could deny the positive impact of the new funding system on the share business in the coming weeks as cap beyond Rs25 billion on financing means enough liquidity for the prospective investors, they said.

“Corporate announcements both final and interims coming in from most of the companies are on the higher side of the analysts predictions and they are sure to have a positive impact after investors pull them out from the euphoria of CFS”, says a leading broker.

The high profile shares may not have reached the saturation point yet but shift of investor interest to the low-priced second-liners points to a major change in the portfolio building, he adds.

Heavy buying in Pakistan PTA, Fauji Cement and Fauij Fertilizer Bin Qasim during the post-CFS trading sessions reflected that the buying interest was getting broad-based amid reports of higher interim earnings.

Energy shares, notably OGDC, Pakistan Petroleum and PSO are currently under the cross-current of alternate bouts of buying and selling and are keeping the market unsettled.

Prominent gainers were led by Siemens Pakistan and Wyeth Pakistan, up by Rs20 and Rs43.75, followed by Bank al-Habib, Pakistan Cables, Mitchell’s Farms, Unilever Pakistan, ICI Pakistan, Ferozsons Lab and Glaxo-SKF, which posted gains ranging from Rs2.55 to Rs9.

Losers were led by Pakistan Petroleum and Atlas Honda, off Rs8.30 and Rs8.20. Other leading losers included Javed Omer, EFU Life Insurance, Haroon Oils, HinoPak Motors, Murree Brewery, Gatron Industries, and National Foods, off Rs4 to Rs7.80.

Trading volume fell to 247m shares from the previous 391m shares as losers held a strong lead over the gainers at 172 to 90, with 45 shares holding on to the last levels.

The most active list was topped by PTCL, lower by 15 paisa at Rs64.55 on 47m shares followed by OGDC, off 50 paisa at Rs108.90 on 40m shares, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, up by 30 paisa at Rs34.30 on 35m shares, Pakistan Oilfields, higher by Re1 at Rs336 on 15m shares, Pakistan Petroleum, off Rs8.30 at Rs167.50 on 13m shares, National Bank, easy 45 paisa at Rs105.40 on 8m shares, and Bank of Punjab, up by 50 paisa at Rs89.10 on 10m shares.

Other actives were led by D.G.Khan Cement, firm five paisa on 11m shares, Fauji Cement, steady also by the same amount on 10m shares and Pakistan PTA, lower 45 paisa on 8m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: PTCL also led the list of actives on this counter but failed to sustain the early run-up and ended lower by 10 paisa at Rs64.55 on 14m shares followed by Pakistan Petroleum, off Rs8.30 at Rs167.50 on 12m shares, and OGDC, lower 80 paisa at Rs108.70 on 7m shares.