KARACHI, June 30: Stocks on Wednesday turned in a highly volatile performance as investors were not inclined to take long positions on any of the counters owing perhaps to some political irritants. The KSE 100-share index recovered the overnight loss and was marked up by 14.23 points at 5,279.18.
Selective support, however, figured prominently on a number of counters under the lead of OGDC but as the other heavyweights including PTCL and Hub-Power did not respond positively to its overture, the initial rally remained inconclusive, brokers said.
The early rally was attributed to the perception of smooth transition of power to the new leader of the house and the market talk of political stability in the weeks to come.
The KSE 100-share index early breached through the barrier of 5,300 apparently in reaction to the election of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain as the leader of the house and the prime minister but failed to sustain it owing to year-end portfolio adjustments.
It finally ended with a modest rise of 14.23 points at 5,279.18 as compared to 5,264.95 a day earlier, reflecting the strength of leading base shares, notably the OGDC.
Unlike the previous years, there was no significant evidence of proverbial year-end buying either by the financial institutions or the leading brokerage houses for no apparent bearish reasons.
But some analysts say both are still in overbought position owing to market's steep increase during the second half of the current year, notably from January to March and needs further correction.
"The KSE 100-share index had touched its career-best level at 5,620 during the second half of the financial year ended June 30, and since then is fluctuating between 5,300 to 5,100 levels amid alternate bouts of buying and selling," they said.
The index appears to be in search of finding its sustainable level and may find it after the dust on the political scene settles down and investors have a clear idea of future political scene, they said.
The economic indicators are positive as the central bank quarterly reports tells and predicts that the next year's growth rate will be achieved if all goes well on the irrigation water front for the farm sector.
Both the market trend setters, energy and cement sectors attracted a lot of profit-selling and remained under pressure under the lead of Sui Northern and Sui Southern Gas, which were in strong demand during the last couple of sessions as both are allowed to increase selling rates from July 1, 2004.
Leading gainers were led by EFU Life Insurance, which showed smart gains for the third session in a row and has risen by Rs30. It posted a fresh gain of Rs14.80 followed by Unilever Pakistan, up Rs30.
Arif Habib Securities and Wyeth Pakistan fell by Rs50 followed by Glaxo-SKF, Millat Tractors, Atlas Honda, Atlas Battery, Sapphire Fibre, Mehmood Textiles, Shahtaj Sugar, Indus Motors, Packages, Bhanero Textiles and Treet Corporation, which fell by Rs3 to Rs10.
Trading volume fell to 337m shares from the previous 362m shares but losers maintained a fair lead over the gainers at 174 to 154, with 48 shares holding on to the last levels.
The most active list was topped by OGDC, up 90 paisa at Rs64.50 on 83m shares followed by Bank of Punjab, steady by 10 paisa at Rs52.20 on 27m shares, National Bank, firm by 10 paisa at Rs66.45 on 20m shares, Sui Northern Gas, off 55 paisa at Rs64.70 on 17m shares, Sui Southern Gas, lower 20 paisa at Rs32.80 on 16m shares and Hub-Power, off 25 paisa at Rs32.20 on 13m shares.
Other actives were led by Lucky Cement, off 80 paisa on 15m shares, DG Khan Cement, easy 40 paisa on 13m shares, Fauji Cement, lower 45 paisa also on 13m shares and PTCL, easy 15 paisa on 11m shares.
FORWARD COUNTER: OGDC came in for renewed support and rose by 90 paisa a Rs64.65 on 10m shares followed by Bank Alfalah, up 35 paisa at Rs53.90 and Hub-Power, lower 20 paisa at Rs32.45 on 3m shares.
Other actives were led by Sui Northern, lower five paisa at Rs65.55 on 2m shares, DG Khan Cement, off 55 paisa at Rs57.60 on 1m shares. PSO was traded lower by Rs1.25 at Rs258 on light volume.
DEFAULTER COS: The activity on this counter was relatively slow owing to slack demand. Standard Bank and Dando Cement came in for stray buying and selling, off 20 and 35 paisa at Rs9.15 and Rs11.50 respectively on 0.117m and 0.250m shares.