KARACHI, Jan 2: Panic buying continued for the fourth session in a row on Friday as spinners tried to grab the floating stock irrespective of the higher asking prices.

Another 30,000 bales, including some big-lots ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 bales, changed hands mostly around Rs3,400 per muand while others were traded at an average rate of Rs3,200.

Floor brokers said heavy buying by some of the leading textile groups heated up the market amid fears that the crop may be short even below the revised target of 12.5m bales.

“After having raised prices well above the official support price at which TCP was a second buyer, spinners have apparently secured future supplies sans the TCP,” they said, adding “the TCP may now confine its operations to inferior lots for which it has also secure foreign markets.”

Now the race to grab the floating stocks of lint is between the textile tycoons, having enormous financial resources at their disposal and may push prices further higher in the coming weeks, they said.

Spinners said although the new year textile export outlook is not clear yet, the current rebound staged by the New York cotton futures signals that the demand is expected to pick up by the next couple of weeks.

But piling of unsold textile stocks owing to interruption because of year-end stock taking has a negative impact on our financial positions and added to it the current price flare up in cotton, they added.

Official spot rates were again revised upward by Rs100 per maund at Rs3,300 for an average quality but fine lots were traded around R3,400 per maund.

The following were some of the notable deals late on Friday evening in the ready section:

SINDH TYPE: 1,000, 800 and 500 bales, Jhole, Sanghar and Sinjoro at Rs3,150, 1,700 bales, Shahpur Chakkar at Rs3,200, 3,000 and 600 bales, Shahdadpur and Tando Adam at Rs3,200 to Rs3,250 and 3,000 bales, upper Sindh at Rs3,300.

PUNJAB VARIETY: 3,610 bales, 2,000 Khanpur, 1,000 each, Liaquatpur, Khanpur, Chanigoth, and Kabirwala at Rs3,400, 4,000 bales, Rahimyar Khan at Rs3,300 to Rs3,400, 3,400 bales, Bahawalpur, 1,000 bales each Ghazi Ghat at Rs3,300, 800 bales, Hasilpur at Rs3,200 to Rs3,300, 800 bales, Haroonabad at Rs3,150 to Rs3,200, 400 bales, Fazalpur at Rs3,350 and 400 bales, Muridwala at Rs3,165.