KARACHI, Feb 7: The share market on Thursday failed to extend the overnight bullish trend as leading shares came in for modest pruning on selling triggered by violence in the city after the killing of a political leader, but larger fall was averted thanks to presence of support at the dips.

The underlying sentiment was also shaky on reports of killing of eight army officers including a general in a chopper crash in the tribal areas on Wednesday.

The decline in the index was contained within a manageable limit of about 40 points as a section of investors played on both sides of the fence never allowing bears to have an upper hand.It finally finished with a modest fall of 25.43 points at 13,992.75 as compared to 14,018.18 points a day earlier as some of the leading base shares tended further higher.

Attendance in the offices of the brokerage houses was very low owing to thin public transport apparently as protest and fears of burning of vehicles, said a broker.

He said the market was expected to be back on the rails possibly by Friday as there were no reports of fresh violence or burning of vehicles on Wednesday and there was a relative calm barring transport problem.

Analysts said investors were not inclined to go all-out for the shares whose board meetings were due owing to changing background news and election uncertainties.

However, if some leading brokers found the cue about the winning party in the elections, together with the dividend announcements the market may witness a pre-election smart rally.

AKD Capital and Rafhan Maize were leading among the gainers, up by Rs24.50 and Rs125, followed by Bata Pakistan, Unilever Pakistan, Shell Gas, HinoPak Motors and JS & Co, which posted gains ranging from Rs6.75 to Rs15.50.

Lakson Tobacco and JS Global were prominent among the losers, off Rs19 and Rs26.80, respectively. MCB, Thal Jute, Sazgar Engineering, BOC Pakistan, Murree Brewery, Clover Pakistan, Nestle Pakistan, Mitchell’s Fruits, Central Insurance, followed them, off by Rs5 to Rs6.50.

Trading volume rose to 139m shares from the overnight’s 128m shares as losers held a strong lead over the gainers at 207 to 129, with 33 shares holding on to the last levels.

Arif Habib Securities led the list of actives, up by Rs1.05 at Rs177.30 on 12m shares, Netsol Technologies, lower by Rs1.10 at Rs138.80 also on 12m shares, NIB Bank, easy 40 paisa at Rs21.85 on 8m shares, Bosicor Pakistan, easy by 25 paisa at Rs20.75 on 5m shares, Pakistan Petroleum, higher by Rs3.05 at Rs250.55 on 4m shares, WorldCall Telecom, up 15 paisa at Rs17.45 also on 4m shares.

Other actives included First Prudential Modaraba, up by 85 paisa at Rs4.15 on 5m shares, Eye Television, higher by Rs1.40 at Rs66.50 on 3m shares and Al-Abbas Cement, up by 40 paisa at Rs13.75 also on 3m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Arif Habib came in for modest selling and was quoted lower by 80 paisa at Rs30.55 on 6m shares followed MCB, off by Rs5.05 at Rs403.90 on 4m shares and Bank of Punjab, steady by 15 paisa at Rs91.40 on 2m shares.