KARACHI, April 26: Badla rates fell further on the carryover market last week as investors were not inclined to make larger investment in a falling stock market and mostly stayed away awaiting the return of the bulls.

The weighted average badla rate touched the low level of 5.5 per cent as compared to previous week’s 8.2 per cent, having a negative impact on the on the general investment, notably from the retailers.

What seems to have curtailed the normal business on this counter was reports that some of the leading shares, notably Hub-Power and Sui Northern were traded below four per cent, analysts said, adding it may well reflect short positions held by investors in these stocks.

“The April 22 market crash, which eroded 105 points or 3.5 per cent from the KSE 100-share index changed the investor perceptions about the future share price outlook,” some others said. “The post-crash shock worked against the carryover business.”

The situation on the Lahore Stock Exchange carryover market was not that alarming where the badla rate showed a modest rise at 10 per cent as against previous week’s 9.5 per cent.

As a result, investment on the carryover market also shrank to Rs7.6bn as compared to Rs8.5 billion last week owing partly to 2.6 per cent erosion in the share values and partly to fall in the total volume to 217m shares from the previous week’s 251m shares.

Leading analysts fear the failure of the KSE index for the second time to attain the widely speculated level of 3,000 points may drove retailers from the carryover business until the return of the bull market.

They predict the carryover rates are expected to remain within the single digit during the coming weeks also owing to the absence of long position holders in a volatile market.