KARACHI, July 25: Leading shares on Thursday resisted fresh decline and generally finished partially recovered followed by modest short-covering but the rally remained inconclusive owing to the weakness of PTCL. The index reacted by 2.69 points at 1,790.26 after rising by nine points.

Price movements on the downside were mostly fractional and reflected that the correction is now overdone and the market could respond to its technical demand.

“Both the bulls and the bears have already tested their relative strength over the index level beyond 1,800 and both agree that it is no-win situation at least for the near-term.” analysts said, commenting on the fractional change of about 10 points over the week.

“Why your are fighting or wasting your financial resources on the non-issue,” they ask, adding “spend it on new portfolio building to give needed depth to stock trading.”

For the last couple of weeks, the KSE index fluctuating within a narrow band of about 15 points as bears don’t like it to see it above the 1,800 level for unknown reasons. Bulls are not that weak but are chained by some negative external factors and political polarization.

The early run-up was caused by the announcement from the management of Hub-Power that its share transfer books will remain closed from Sept 24 to Oct 8, which analysts said could well prove a prelude to a final dividend for the current year.

It has already paid an interim dividend of 70 per cent in May last, and the general perception is that it could match the final with the same figure. The final payout from it may be announced sometime next month, they added.

After opening about nine points higher in the backdrop of reports of rebound staged by the global bourses, the KSE 100-share index finished with a fresh fractional decline of 2.69 points at 1,790.26 as follow-up support turned shy towards the close of the session.

Floor brokers say the market is expected to resume normal trading in line with the global bourses as fears of a big shakeout still haunt them and they are playing safe.

Energy sector is expected to get the needed boost as the government has announced to give Rs15 billion to Wapda and KESC to bail them out from the prevailing financial crisis. PSO, which has been under pressure for the last couple of sessions responded positively to the report.

“I think the market has already digested the negative impact of bad news and is poised for a rebound alone on technical grounds,” one analyst predicts, adding “the index level beyond 1,800 may now be not out of its reach, of course, on the strength of some positive basic fundamentals.”

Plus signs dominated the list after several sessions, major gainers being Abbott Lab, Dilon, Pakistan Refinery, International Industries and Wyeth Pakistan, which posted gains ranging from Rs2 to Rs4.

Other prominent gainers were led by Fecto Cement, Pioneer Cables, Liver Brothers, Mitchell’s Fruits, Kohinoor Raiwind, PEL and Pak Elektron, rising by Rs1.05 to Rs1.90.

Losses on the other hand were fractional, barring Crescent Textiles, BOC Pakistan and Reckit Benckiser, off one rupee to Rs1.45.

It was perhaps in this background that the trading volume rose to 60m shares from the previous 44m shares as gainers outpaced losers by 135 to 125, with 71 shares holding on to the last levels. A sizable expansion in the active scrips beyond 300 also reflects a major change in the market psychology.

Hub-Power again led the list of actives, unchanged at Rs24.30 on 19m shares followed by PTCL, lower 20 paisa at Rs17.65 on 8m shares, PSO, up 15 paisa at Rs139.80 on 7m shares, D.G. Khan Cement, up 10 paisa at Rs10 on 4m shares and National Bank, unchanged at Rs21.35 on 3.853m.

Other actives were led by MCB, lower 30 paisa on 2.157m shares, KESC, firm by five paisa on 1.816m shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, up 10 paisa on 1.097m shares, Southern Electric, off 45 paisa on 0.927m shares and Engro Chemical, lower 20 paisa on 0.841m shares.

CLEARED LIST: Easier conditions prevailed on this counter as out of 11 actives, eight shares fell, while three rose, with two staying unchanged. Turnover was large at 18m shares as compared to previous 10m shares.