KARACHI, Sept 13: CFS rates on the Karachi Stock Exchange last week registered a decline of 1.4 per cent at 16.78 per cent as financial risks involved in fresh credit lines were on the lower side after the swearing in of Asif Zardari as President and a relative calm on the political front.

However, investors were worried over the tribal areas situation particularly in the back drop of the successive air and ground attacks by the US forces inside Pakistani territory involving a number of casualties and hence they were not making fresh investment, observed analyst Muniba Saeed at the Invest Cap said.

As a result, CFS investment fell by 7.6 per cent close to the figure of Rs17.97 billion lower from the average weekly figure of Rs22 billion plus for the last couple of weeks, she said, adding “lack of exit opportunity owing to the price freeze and floor on the index kept investors away from making fresh larger commitments”.

The top five scrips which accounted for 39pc of the total CFS investment included J.S & Co, Arif Habib Securities, OGDC, National Bank and Bank Alfalah.

The open interest on the future counter, however, rose by 5.90 per cent to Rs3.07 billion. Future spreads on the other hand showed a smart rise of 273 basis points at 15.31 per cent.