KARACHI, Feb 3: Stocks turned mixed amid alternate bouts of buying and selling on Tuesday, but the strength of the banking and some leading oil shares kept the underlying sentiment uppishly inclined on modest volumes.

The shrinking turnover volume from the last week’s well over 200m shares to 141m shares reflected that a section of investors was finding exit routes, of course, after having taken profits at available margins.

An interim dividend announcement at the rate of 12.5 per cent by the directors of Mehran Sugar Mills after a long list of omissions in this sector and a cash payout of 37.548 per cent by Searle Pakistan was on the higher side of the market expectations and were well-received.

The KSE 100-share index briefly touched the higher mark of 5,400.75 points as some of the leading heavy weight base shares came in for active support but finished with a clipped gain of 50.92 points at 5,384.87 points on late-selling at the early rise.

All other indexes also finished recovered under the lead of KSE 30-share which was quoted higher by 84.37 points at 5,283.28 points and so did the KSE All Share and the KMI-30 up by 30.65 and 9.22 points at 4,017.80 and 7,092.52, respectively.

“The surge in the index does not reflect the actual trend of the capital market,” said Hasnain Asghar Ali. “Essentially, it is the behaviour of the broader market that raises hope for a better future”.

A modest buying in the current recovery trend in MCB Bank, which has the largest weightage in the index, and some others notably National Bank and OGDC are capable of keeping it in a good shape but it does not show that all is well on the share market, he said.

“But the important factor, which stabilises the market on sound footing despite two-way activity is the presence of fund buying and institutional support,” said another analyst Ahsan Mehanti. “But both are still volatile as their managers could not precisely decide whether or not to remain as an adding factor”.However, persistent rise in the value of the NIT units reflects that bulk of the support by the NIT-managed fund is confined to some leading shares in its portfolio, some others said.

“What the market needs are confidence building measures sans profit-hunting at least for a specific period,” analyst Hasan T. Rajabali thinks. “The move could attract some genuine investors into their fold”.

Leading gainers were led by Pakistan Services and Dawood Hercules, up by Rs9 and Rs5.73, followed by Habib Bank,

MCB Bank, EFU General, Al-Abbas Sugar, Pakistan Tobacco, Mari Gas and Pakistan Oil-fields, which rose by Rs3.26 to Rs4.25.

Losers were led by EFU Life and Bhanero Textiles, off Rs9.15 and Rs8.80. Other prominent losers included Engro Chemical, Murree Brewery, National Foods, Ferozsons Lab and PECO, which suffered fall ranging from Rs3.84 to Rs6.68.

Losers again maintained a fair lead over the gainers at 152 to 96, with 18 shares remaining pegged at the last close, out of the 266 actives.

NIB Bank again led the list of actives, steady by three paisa at Rs5.45 on 22m shares followed by Pioneer Cement, up 59 paisa at Rs9.27 on 8m shares, OGDC, higher by 89 paisa at Rs45.51 on 7m shares, JS & Co, up Rs1.46 at Rs30.79 on 6m shares, National Bank, higher by Rs2.44 at Rs60 and WorldCall Telecom, lower 10 paisa at Rs2.94 on 5m shares.

PTCL followed them, easy by 20 paisa at Rs15.29 on 5m shares and Arif Habib Securities, up Re1 at Rs20.39 also on 5m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Barring MCB Bank, Habib Bank and National Bank and leading oil shares, which finished with extended gains, Bank of Punjab, Fauji Fertiliser and some other fell on selling but there was no transaction.

DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Zeal Pak Cement led the list of actives on this counter, easy by six paisa at Rs0.36 on 4.464m shares followed by National Asset Leasing, higher by 19 paisa at Rs0.49 on 0.440m shares and Japan Power, lower by two paisa at Rs1.58 on 0.143m shares.

All others were modestly traded on light volumes but International Knitwear, Libas Textiles and Medi Glass came in for active selling and fell by Re1 each.

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Feb 3,2009

Market at a glance