KARACHI, Feb 3: Total investment under Continuous Financing System (CFS) on the Karachi Stock Exchange last week crossed the Rs50-billion-mark as the demand for funds remained on the higher side in bull market.

The figure touched the high mark of Rs51.2 billion as compared to previous Rs47.2 billion, signalling that the limit of Rs55 billion may be crossed by the next week, predicts Salman Amir Ali, an analyst at a leading research house.

“Incidentally, about 63 per cent of the total funding, amounting to Rs32 billion was shared by five active stocks, notably National Bank, OGDC, Pakistan Petroleum, Pakistan Oilfields and Bank of Punjab,” he added.

CFS rates also rose steadily touching the week’s highest at 16.6 per cent as compared to 14.6 per cent a week earlier.

Open interest in February future contracts also rose to Rs7.91 billion as compared to Rs6.80 billion a week ago, but on the other hand future spread narrowed to 5.2 per cent as against previous 5.06 per cent as the bull-run in the ready section failed to boost activity on the forward counter, analysts said.