KARACHI, July 30: Stocks on Friday finished with an extended decline on weekend selling but larger fall was resisted thanks to an encouraging interim dividend announcement by the Fauji Fertilizer just at the heels of the PSO.

Price movements were highly erratic as investors played on both sides of the market owing partly to weekend considerations and partly to the absence of leading investors.

Market's erratic price movements were also well-reflected in the KSE 100-share index, which early fell by 38 points, breaching the second barrier of 5,300 during the week and the mid-session saw it rising by 26 points.

The final closing was around 5,289.92, well above the day's lowest level of 5,270, off 13.64 points, reflecting that it could bounce back when the trading resume next Monday.

Analysts said the market has more than one reasons to react positively to the dividend announcements from the PSO and Fauji Fertilizer and some others including an interim of 25 per cent by the Engro Chemical.

The management of Fauji Fertilizer gave more than one pleasant surprises to even well-informed leading stock analysts. Its board on Thursday's (July 29), meeting has announced second interim dividend at the rate of Rs4.75 per share in addition to Rs3.25 already paid, lifting its share value by Rs9.25 at Rs132.75.

But what was more surprising was bonus shares at the rate of 15 per cent on a profit of Rs1.56 billion and EPS of Rs6.09. But bonus shares will not be eligible for the final cash dividend, which confused the brokers as it would be pretty difficult to distinguish between the bonus and the original shares.

Rafhan Maize came out with an interim dividend of 90 per cent or Rs9 per share, but its share value remained dormant owing perhaps to higher ruling prices. OGDC, which remained under pressure for the last couple of sessions in line with the general trend and did not react favourably to reports of its new oil and gas finds in the Sindh oil belt and fell further by Rs1.35 to Rs64.90.

"Indications are that the dividend-driven rally could manifest itself in a bigger way by the next week as by that time more companies will announce their interim accounts," brokers said.

Already, the carryover market has eased during the last couple of sessions as leading shares including PSO, OGDC and some others have shed their extra load, they added. Stray covering purchases did emerge at the fag end of weekend session as bargain-hunters and speculators were not inclined to resist the temptation of the lower prices, which ensure good capital gains possibly by the next week.

Minus signs again dominated the list under the lead of Nestle MilkPak, Abbott Lab and Atlas Battery, off Rs5 to Rs7.70 followed by PNSC, Mehmood Textiles, Sapphire Textiles, Al-Abbas Sugar, Haroon Oils and Pak-Suzuki Motors, which suffered fall ranging from Rs2 to Rs3.75.

Prominent gainers were led by Pakistan Cables, Dewan Mushtaq Textiles, Adamjee Insurance, Gadoon Textiles, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Pakistan Cables, Shell Pakistan and International Industries, up Rs2.15 to Rs7.55.

Trading volume rose to 222m shares from the previous 173m shares but losers maintained a fair lead over the gainers at 183 to 92, with 39 shares holding on to the last levels.

FF Bin Qasim Fertiliser topped the list of actives, up Rs1.50 at Rs21.20 on 54m shares followed by OGDC, off Rs1.35 at Rs 64.90 on 20m shares, PTCL, lower 40 paisa at Rs43.55 on 16m shares, DG Khan Cement, firm by 25 paisa a Rs55.35 on 13m shares and National Bank, off 70 paisa at Rs71.75 on 12m shares.

Other actives were led by Bank of Punjab, off Rs1.10 on 10m shares, Fauji Fertilizer, higher by Rs9.25 on 8m shares, Askari Bank, steady by 35 paisa also on 8m shares, Nishat Mills, easy 40 paisa on 7m shares and Maple Leaf Cement, firm by five paisa on 6m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Easier conditions prevailed on the cleared list where all the leading shares came in for active profit-selling and finished lower under the lead of Pakistan Petroleum, off Rs2.60 at Rs107.35 on 25m shares followed by OGDC, lower by 60 paisa at Rs64.90 on 10m shares.

PTCL also came in for active selling and fell by 29 paisa at Rs43.75 on 6m shares, FF Bin Qasim, higher by Rs1.50 at Rs21.15 on 6m shares, and Hub-Power, off 39 paisa at Rs30.66 on 4m shares.

DEFAULTER COS: Dandot Cement came in for active support and rose by 25 paisa at Rs9 on 0.289m shares followed by Mehran Jute, up 15 paisa at Rs2.95 on 0.203m shares. All others were traded fractionally amid either-way movement.