KARACHI, Oct 27: Stocks on Monday finished further higher amid highly volatile trading as leading investors played on both sides of the fence in the absence of strong financial support. The KSE 100-share index posted fresh modest increase of 6.90 points at 3,952.26.
Price changes were, however, most fractional and reflected lack of an aggressive short-covering from any quarter apparently ahead of the advent of the holy month of Ramazan from tomorrow and the relative slow down in physical activity associated with it.
Wyeth Pakistan and Parke-Davis facing a terrible shortage of the floating stock rose by Rs69 and Rs71.25 at Rs1,021.25 and Rs1,379 respectively on modest turnover.
Dawood Hercules, whose directors have announced a third interim dividend at the rate of 20 per cent, making to the total so far to 80 per cent also maintained its upward drive and ended with an extended gain of Rs2.
The market’s highly erratic price movements was also well reflected in the behaviour of the KSE 100-share index, which early rose by 53 points to touch the day’s peak level of 4,000 but late selling pushed it down to finish lower at 3,952.26 points, up 6.90 points. It hit the day’s lowest at 3,913.
Incidentally, both the leading base shares, PTCL and Hub-Power, which hold 43 per cent weightage in it was down but others rose enabling it to maintain a firm trend. It also reflects the relative strength of the broader market.
Floor brokers said investors, appear to be unsure about the future direction of the market, notably during the holy month, which generally restrict large scale operations from leading investors, mostly played safe.
The official announcement about sell-off of 2.5 per cent shares of Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) from Nov 10 to 14, was attributed the main aiding factor behind the early run but late selling by bargain- hunters clipped the initial gains.
Interim working results from some of the leading companies including National Bank and some others are due during the next couple of sessions before the month is out and they could evoke a lot of interests in their shares, brokers said.
The recent visit of the US business delegation on the investment probing mission here has raised hopes that some of them could come in a big way in the financial sector in the coming months, they said.
Analysts said the market lacks an aggressive support from the financial institutions and until they come in a big way the performance of the market may remain volatile.
They said the cut in number of shares being traded on the carryover counter though will benefit investors in the long run but its initial impact was negative as many investors have stake in some of them.
PTCL, which initiated the last Friday rally on reports of cut in call rates came in for active selling at the higher levels and so did PSO but some other energy shares managed to finish modestly higher and so did fertilizer shares.
Prominent gainers were led by Jahangir Siddiqui & Co, Ahmed Hassan Textiles, Cherat Cement, Lakson Tobacco, Abbott Pakistan, Adamjee Insurance, Otsuka Pakistan, Ghani Glass and Security Papers, which posted gains ranging from Rs2.85 to Rs6.
Losers were led by National Refinery, Javed Omer, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Cherat Papers, Pakistan Refinery, Bhanero Textiles and Gatron Industries, off Rs1.55 to Rs5.65.
Trading volume showed a fresh increase at 285m shares from the previous 240m shares as the advancing shares maintained a fair lead over the losers at 153 to 109, with 26 shares holding on to the last levels.
PTCL again topped the list of actives, easy five paisa at Rs34.25 on 49m shares followed by the PSO, lower Rs1.40 at Rs260.50 on 46m shares, FFC-Jordan Fertilizer, up 50 paisa at Rs17 on 26m shares, DG Khan Cement, higher 75 paisa at Rs39.60 on 24m shares and Hub-Power, off 25 paisa at Rs34.80 on 23m shares.
Other actives were led by Pakistan Oilfields, unchanged on 12m shares, Dewan Salman, easy five paisa on 11m shares, National Bank, higher by 55 paisa on 9m shares, Pak PTA, unchanged also on 9m shares and Fauji Cement, lower 40 paisa on 8m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: Mixed trend was seen on this counter where the newcomer November settlements made their debut amid alternate bouts of buying and selling but unlike their October contracts, most of them managed to end higher on the perception of a firm future market.
PSO rose by 50 paisa at Rs262 on 14m shares, while PTCL fell 14 paisa at Rs34.31 on 5m shares. Hub-Power also shed another 10 paisa at Rs34.90 but FFC-Jordan Fertilizer rose by 55 paisa at Rs17 and so did Pak PTA, up 30 paisa at Rs11.90. Both Hub-Power and FFC-Jordan Fertilizer turned out volumes of 5 and 4m shares respectively.
DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Trading activity on this counter was relatively slow amid fractional either-way price changes. There was no large turnover in any of the shares, reflecting the absence of speculative activity.