KARACHI, March 20: Stocks remained in a buoyant mood on Thursday despite a good bit of foreign selling but institutional traders absorbed bulk of the unloading, both at the fall and rise, in an apparent effort to link trading with positive political events.

But bulk of the support was confined to the high-profile issues, being safe havens in a volatile market, which witnessed a fresh price flare-up amid active trading.

The market’s firm stance was also evident from the Karachi Stock Exchange’s 100-share index, which maintained its upward drive and finished with an extended gain of 30 points on an active follow-up support, though late selling again pushed it down below the barrier of 15,000 points.

After having crossed the barrier at 15,046.80, it finally closed the weekend session at 14,993.87, up 29.45 points, boosted by fresh buying in the leading base shares.

The KSE 30-share index rose by 74.42 points at 18,312.86 points.

Unlike the overnight steep rise in the leading oil shares on reports of new oil finds, OGDC and Pakistan Petroleum failed to extend the gains and came in for active foreign selling but Pakistan Oilfields survived on local support.

A number of leading investors are out to maintain the index level above 15,000 points to demonstrate that all is well with the underlying sentiment as well as the broader market in the backdrop of foreign selling, said a leading stock analyst.

“But it goes to the credit of local financial institutions, which absorbed bulk of it for the time being,” says a leading analyst Faisal A Rajabali, but the “big question is that what next as it (foreign selling) has not dried up yet.”

“But have the local investors and the institutional traders in an enormous liquidity or the holding capacity, which could absorb the fresh float from them,” he asks.

All may not be bad with the national economy after the new elected government takes over, but the post-election situation may not be an easy ride too, which worries foreign investors amid fears of fresh selling, said Ashraf Zakaria, another analyst.A leading local brokerage house sold massively foreign holdings in some of the leading stocks on the directive of foreign investors, which caused Tuesday’s market plunge followed by rescue operation by the local financial institutions.

Although the new coalition partners are inching steadily to their final target of transfer of power, some of the irritants are still there, which continue to take their toll in the form of price erosions, Hasnain Asghar Ali said.

Among the top gainers, EFU General Insurance and Wyeth Pakistan were leading, up by Rs32 and Rs35, followed by Arif Habib Securities, EFU Life, Attock Refinery, Fazal Textiles, Shell Gas, Pakistan Engineering, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Bata Pakistan, MCB Bank, Invest and financial and HinoPak, which posted gains, ranging from Rs8.30 to Rs25.

But on the other hand, Lakson Tobacco and Siemens Pakistan fell by Rs18.95 and Rs40, respectively, followed by EFU Life, JS & Co, and PSO, off by Rs16 to Rs16.20, while others fell modestly.

Trading volume fell to 247 million shares from the previous 251 million shares, but gainers held a slight edge over losers at 155 to 150, with 37 shares holding on to the last levels. Bank Alfalah led the list of actives, up by Rs1.90 at Rs54.40 on 27 million shares followed by Pakistan Oilfields, higher by Rs8.45 at Rs375.20 on 23 million shares, OGDC, lower by Rs1.45 at Rs133.35 on 19 million shares, Arif Habib Securities up Rs8.30 at Rs174.55 on 17 million shares, Lucky Cement, lower by 70 paisa at Rs136.50 on 12 million shares, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, firm by 30 paisa at Rs45.85 on 10 million shares and Pakistan Petroleum, off Rs2.20 at Rs259.05 on eight million shares.

Other actives were led by WorldCall Telecom, steady by 20 paisa at Rs17.45 on nine million shares, Javed Omer & Co, higher by Rs1.95 at Rs104.55 on six million shares and Dewan Salman, up by 20 paisa at Rs10.45 also on six million shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Bank Alfalah also led the list of actives on the cleared list, up by Rs2.55 at Rs54.20 on 12 million shares followed by Pakistan Oilfields, higher by Rs8 at Rs376 on nine million shares and Bank of Punjab, steady by 40 paisa at Rs69.30 on eight million shares. MCB Bank followed them, easy by 20 paisa at Rs394 on five million shares and PSO, off Rs15.65 at Rs524.05 on five million shares.