KARACHI, Jan 20: Stocks on Monday finished with an extended fall as investors liquidated in part their long positions on selected counters in a bid to adjust their portfolios but there were buyers at the dips.

Hub-Power led the market decline on heavy selling followed by reports of delay in the dividend announcement until the next board meeting due possibly sometime in June. It ended sharply lower by Rs1.25 at Rs39.60 on large volume.

“It was an overdue technical correction caused by fears of settlement of the massive carryover business but the market is expected to resume its upward march after meeting its clearing demands”, brokers said.

The renewed tension with India over the issue of cross-border terrorism and the missile race was another destabilizing factor, which prompted a lot of profit-selling by some leading investors and financial institutions too.

The KSE 100-share index suffered a fresh fall of 34 points at at 2,920.63 as bears did not allow it to test the coveted level of 3,000 points at least for the near-term as widely speculated.

“I don’t think bulls have lost the stamina to hold the fort”, one broker said but the “developing external situation seems to have signalled them to keep a judicious balance between the buying and selling positions”.

There is a possibility of a strong rebound after the market adjusts its technical position, notably related to carryover business as cash heavy financial investors are still around.

But some other claim the market has already hit its best level and needs correction, which could be progressive or snap at the current fairly inflated levels.

Bulk of the selling was confined to the overvalued shares, which have attained fairly attractive levels during the last one month’s sustained run-up. Energy, fertilizer and most of the blue chips on the other counters came in for active selling and suffered sharp price erosions.

Leading gainers were led by Pakistan Refinery, which maintained its upward drive and hit its new career-best level of Rs166.15, up Rs11.55, followed by Shell Gas LPG, higher by Rs5.

Other good gainers included Javed Omer, EFU Life Insurance, Maqbool Textiles, Dawood Cotton, Lawrencepur Woollen, Colgate Pakistan and Ferozsons Lab, up by Rs1.50 to Rs3.50.

Losers were led by Unilever Pakistan, New Jubilee Insurance, Lakson Tobacco, Pakistan Oilfields, General Tyre, Pak-Suzuki Motors, Fauji Fertilizer, Glaxo-Wellcome Pakistan, Security Papers, Shell Pakistan, BOC Pakistan, which suffered decline ranging from Rs2 to Rs60.

Trading volume fell to 444.364m shares from the previous 486m shares as losers maintained a strong lead over the gainers at 180 to 119, with 58 shares holding on to the last levels.

Hub-Power topped the list of most actives, off Rs1.25 at Rs39.60 on 89m shares followed by PTCL, lower 30 paisa at Rs25.35 on 63m shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, higher by 90 paisa at Rs13.20 on 47m shares, KESC, off 40 paisa at Rs6.45 on 38m shares, Pak PTA, up by 35 paisa at Rs8.60 on 33m shares, Sui Northern Gas, off 55 paisa at Rs26.80 on 32m shares and PSO, up by 85 paisa at Rs238.85 on 16m shares.

Other actives were led by PIA “A”, higher by 75 paisa on 14m shares, Telecard, up by 70 paisa on 13m shares and ICI Pakistan, firm by 75 paisa also on 13m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Speculative issues on the forward counter also came in for active selling at the higher level and fell by Rs1.35, Rs2.10 and Rs2.50 for Hub-Power, Engro Chemical and Fauji Fertilizer at Rs39.90, Rs99.10 and Rs85.75 respectively. FFC-Jordan Fertilizer was an exception, which rose by Re1 at Rs13.40 on 9m shares.