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RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The share market witnessed yet another session of declines on Monday as investors were worried about the key economic indicators and the recent negotiations with the IMF review mission, which hinted that the loans to Pakistan would be available by June.

Market punters have now switched their focus towards IMF meetings. They believe that Pakistan will get funds by June and not this month as was expected earlier. Salman Ahmad of Finex Securities said that the key economic indicators were not portraying a good picture. The revenue collection would fall short of the target of Rs 356 billion and the government might only collect nearly Rs 330 billion during the current fiscal year. He said that the whopping trade deficit would also worsen the balance of payments position. So, in the short term the market might witness some more correction.

The KSE-100 index registered a decline of 15.47 points or 0.80 percent to 1927.74 from 1943.21 of Friday. The volume amounted to 156.890 million shares as against 184.441 million shares of Friday. The market capitalization moved down to Rs 488.399 billion from Rs 491.726 billion.

An analyst from Westminster and Eastern Services said that the week started on a subdued note as the market remained lackluster throughout the session. Like on the last working day, the KSE index deceptively opened on a positive note which was later pulled back into the negative column as bears resumed selling pressure to close the first session with an almost 22 points fall.

He added that the "Ashura" falling during the week kept the local investors away during the session, however, the market recovered to some extent as intra-day speculators covered their short positions towards the end.

The KSE index is range bound and the market is expected to witness sluggish activity. But the carry-over rates (badla) last Friday indicated that the market was slightly oversold and bulls could come back on any positive development.

Mohammad Zubair Ellahi of KAB Securities said that the aggressive offloading in one of the main speculatives pushed the price down by over 10 percent and turned the tempo bearish. The overall values too remained low, waiting for market to settle.

He pointed out that the high badla volumes and unfavourable price movement suggested that the current tempo might continue pushing levels further lower. It was advisable to buy on abnormal dips.

Nadeemud Din of AHR Securities said that selling pressure by the weak holders persisted in the market from the beginning and despite institutional as well as selective buying by the individuals, the index remained in the minus zone.

The trading mostly took place in a narrow band and no major movement was seen. The volume of traded shares shrunk considerably but the market might stabilize in the forthcoming sessions.

PTCL on a trading of 47.309 million shares moved to Rs 31.60 from Rs 31.85, Hub Power moved down by 70 paisa to Rs 27.25 as nearly 21.007 million shares changed hands, ICI on a trading of 17.082 million shares closed at Rs 17.20, i.e. lower by 35 paisa, PSO on a volume of 12.204 million shares recorded a decline of Rs 2.70 to Rs 238.80 and Dewan rose Rs 2.15 to Rs 46.70 on a turnover of 9.768 million shares.