KARACHI, Oct 28: Stocks on Thursday suffered fresh decline as investors again played on both sides of the fence in the absence of strong demand from the institutional traders despite higher interim dividend announcements by some of the leading companies.

As a matter of fact institutional traders and financial institutions are still in the process of readjusting their exposure limits to meet the central bank demand and until they are back in the market as buyers the performance of the market may remain sluggish, dealers said.

That is perhaps why, the market failed to sustain the early run-up triggered by active short-covering aided by higher interim dividend by some of the mega companies, including OGDCL and some other leading companies and stayed weak.

The KSE 100-share index early rose to hit the day's peak level of 5,388.22, but a mid-session selling by the financial institutions halted the rise and after falling to day's low of 5,351.56, it managed to finish partially recovered at 5,367.68, off 15.74 points.

Investors awaited some positive news from the PTCL board meeting but till the closing bell there was no official word but there were a galore of rumours. The modest decline in share value reflected a status quo.

The market is still in the process of rolling of positions from the matured October settlements to the ruling November contracts and allied selling is there, although bulk of it has already been absorbed during the last two sessions.

The market's another equally inhibiting factor was the exposure limits as most of the leading banks were operating well above their limits, which caused a lot of selling by the banks which tried to meet the State Bank deadline of Oct 31, after liquidating their long positions, brokers said.

"But now the market will be guided by the encouraging news from the corporate sector in the form of interim cash dividend and bonus shares rather than some external factors," they said, adding "the removal of immediate irritants could well lead to a robust rally."

The KSE annual report released on Wednesday also points to a bull market on this account as financial reforms had already reinforced investor confidence in the share business, both in terms of dividend and capital gains, they added.

An interim cash dividend of 15 percent by the oil giant OGDCL for the first quarter of the current fiscal is in line with the market expectations and in a way slowed down the downward drift. Having about 22 per cent weightage in the index, it limited the market decline.

Bata Pakistan, with an interim payout of 30 per cent followed it. But what gave a pleasant surprise to the analysts was a 10 per cent interim by the management of Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, a subsidiary of Fauji Fertilizer, as it has been facing some financial problems for the last couple of years. The interim shows it is now a profitable concern.

Third interim at the rate of 40 per cent by Fauji Fertilizer was also well-received in the market as was reflected by sharp rise in its share value.

Losers again dominated the list, leading among them being Javed Omer, Ferozsons Lab, Treet Corporation, Millat Tractors and Wyeth Pakistan, off Rs4 to Rs15. Sana Industries, Atlas Battery, Murree Brewery, Abbott Lab and Al-Abbas Sugar followed them, off by Rs2.50 to Rs3.85.

Some of the leading shares managed to finish with extended gains, notably among them being Shezan International, Berger Paints, EFU General, Artistic Denim, which posted gains ranging from Rs5.65 to Rs7.45. The largest gains were, however, recorded in Clariant Pakistan, International Industries, Rafhan Maize and Atlas Honda, up by Rs10.95 to Rs15.

Trading volume fell further to 100.345m shares from the previous 180m shares as the losers maintained a fair lead over the gainers at 181 to 99, with 41 shares holding on to the last levels.

OGDCL led the list of actives, lower 30 paisa at Rs66.35 on 13m shares followed by PTCL, easy 25 paisa at Rs38.35 on 11m shares, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, lower 20 paisa at Rs20.85 on 7m shares, Engro Chemical, higher 65 paisa at Rs99.10 on 5m shares and D.G. Khan Cement, higher by 20 paisa at Rs49.40 also on 5m shares.

Other actives were led by Pak PTA, up 45 paisa on 5m shares followed by National Bank, lower 30 paisa also on 5m shares, Sui Northern Gas, up 40 paisa on 4m shares, Nishat Mills, easy five paisa on 3m shares and PPL, off Rs1.05 also on 3m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: PPL came in for renewed selling and fell by Rs1.25 at Rs117.50 on 10m shares followed by its November settlement, off Rs2.07 at Rs118.98 on 9m shares, PTCL, easy by 17 paisa at Rs38.73 on 5m shares. D.G. Khan Cement, steady by four paisa at Rs49.15 on 4m shares and OGDCL, November delivery, lower 50 paisa at Rs66.70 on 4m shares. Others showed fractional changes.