KARACHI, Nov 14: Stocks finished the weekend session on a dull note as there were no signs of overnight optimism and leading investors again withdrew to the sidelines without making any fresh commitments.

All eyes are now focused on the next week which could be crucial for the future market trend, said a leading analyst. “Removal of the floor from under the KSE 100-share index and advent of market support fund operations are on the cards,” he added.

But some others said the market could take a fresh battering or stage a technical rebound in without floor trading depending on the strength of financial buying and the bailout package by the IMF.

However, one thing appears certain the future sailing on the market may not be that smooth as it was in the early months of this year, they added.

The echoes of the auction of the KSE card of one of the two defaulters at Rs55 million dominated the trading as investors awaited the fate of the other card and the offered price, floor brokers said.

But what worried them was the fact whether or not the amount the defaulter got for his card would be sufficient to clear his outstanding dues or he would have to sell his booth also, they said.

A loud whispering circulating in the market that some others brokers were also trapped in the delivery problems also took its toll in the form of absence of fresh buying offers, analysts said.

The KSE 100-share index consolidated the overnight fractional gain and was quoted unchanged at 9,184.09 and so did its junior partner at 9,981.93 points. The KSE all-share index fell by 0.21 points at 6,639.13.

The market capital, however, showed a modest decline of Rs109 million at Rs2,827.733 billion owing to fresh price erosions in some of the leading shares.

Trading volume shrank further owing perhaps to weekend considerations and fell to 57,900 shares as compared to previous 66,600 shares recorded a day earlier.Plus and minus signs were evenly matched at five, out of the 24 actives, while 14 shares held onto their last levels.

Crescent Sugar led the list of gainers, up by Re1 followed by Mukhtar Textiles, Mirza Sugar and Habib-ADM, up by one paisa to 52 paisa.

Losers were led by Pak Datacom, off by Rs2 followed by UDL Modaraba, Gharibwal Cement and Sitara Energy, which fell by 25 to 61 paisa.

National Asset Leasing led the list of actives, up by eight paisa at Rs0.50 on 14,500 shares followed by Mukhtar Textiles, steady by one paisa at Rs0.54 on 11,000 shares, Nimir Resins, static at Rs5.05 on 10,000 shares, Gharibwal Cement, lower 42 paisa at Rs16.20 on 4,000 shares, Tri-Star Power, static at Rs1.64 on 3,000 shares and PSO, unchanged at Rs267.49 on 1,000 shares.

NIB Bank followed them, static at Rs8.45 on 1,000 shares, Habib-ADM, up by 52 paisa at Rs10.20 also on 1,000 shares and East-West Life Insurance, unchanged at Rs7 on 1,000 shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Leading shares on this counter remained dormant in the absence of support from any quarter as investors awaited the resumption of normal trading.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Redco and Haydery Constructions came in for modest support, the former ended unchanged at Re1 and the latter fell by two at Rs1.03 on 500 shares and 5,500 shares, respectively. Mukhtar Textiles and National Asset Leasing rose fractionally.