KARACHI, Dec 29: Stocks finished the last session of the year on an easy note as institutional traders kept to sidelines most of the time owing to long weekend ahead due to Eid holidays, while general investors played safe.

The KSE 100-share index was marked down by 18 points but firmly maintained the coveted level of well over 10,000 points, indicating new year debut could be positive thanks to the presence of strong pent up demand.

Price changes on most counters were fractional and reflected that both the bulls and the bears maintained a status quo in apparent effort to give an enthusiastic farewell to an eventful year.Instances of portfolio adjustments here and there were not wanting as both leading brokers and institutional traders remained active on a number of counters as they were not inclined to miss an attractive bait of capital gains during the new year.

However, the outgoing year was not ideal for the stock traders both in terms of dividend yields and uneven corrections followed by price manipulations by the speculators.

Despite many interruptions, it goes to the credit of the KSE index that it stood firm well above the barrier of 10,000 points (base 1,000), pointing to a buoyant new year opening, analyst Ahsan Mehanti said.

The KSE 100-share index showed fractional either-way movements amid alternate bouts of buying and selling and finally closed modestly lower by 17.98 points at 10,040.50 as compared to 10,058.46 a day earlier.

“I don’t think December sluggishness could be carried to the new year trading,” stock analyst Faisal A. Rajabali predicts “the market has more than one reasons to be robust on the strength of higher corporate earnings”.

No one could rule out the possibility of technical corrections during the new year but they are considered healthy and add to the strength of the market, some others said.

Plus signs dominated the list under the lead of Nestle Pakistan and EFU Life, up by Rs44.95 and Rs8.95 followed by EFU General, Lakson Tobacco, Millat Tractors and Jahangir Siddiqui Capital Market, which rose by Rs5 to Rs8.65.

Losses on the other hand were fractional barring Pak-Suzuki, which was marked down by Rs19.95, while Indus Dyeing, Bata Pakistan and Adamjee Insurance, suffered fall ranging from Rs2.30 to Rs6.

Trading volume was light at 83m shares but gainers held a modest lead over the losers at 155 to 108, with 35 shares holding on to the last levels.

PICIC topped the list of actives, lower by 55 paisa at Rs62.45 on 13m shares, followed by OGDC, off 85 paisa at Rs114.70 on 5m shares, National Bank, easy 25 paisa at Rs224.25 on 4m shares, D.G. Khan Cement, lower by Rs1.15 at Rs62.95 also on 4m shares, MCB, easy 90 paisa at Rs246.10 on 3m shares and Pakistan Petroleum, up by 40 paisa at Rs232 also on 3m shares.

Other actives were led by Maple Leaf Cement, up by 35 paisa on 4m shares, Hub-Power, lower 60 paisa on 3m shares, Nishat Mills, easy also on 3m shares and PTCL, unchanged on 3m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: MCB came in for active selling and was quoted lower by Rs1.05 at Rs247.95 on 4m shares, followed by National Bank, lower by 90 paisa at Rs225.60 on 4m shares and D.G. Khan Cement, lower Rs1.05 at Rs63.60 on 2m shares.