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RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: A small downward technical correction at the stock market on Monday halted the price run-up as profit hunters and sundry jobbers stole the show and the volume was down which showed that genuine investors remained glued to the sidelines.

The stock market witnessed a slight selling pressure as investors offloaded their holdings in Hub Power. The Hub share price was trimmed sharply, because analysts and traders believed that the profit of Hubco would be lower and might fall short of earlier projections.

Profit taking activity in PTCL, Ibrahim Fibers, Admajee Insurance and Dawood Hercules put brakes on the index which saw a small slide of 3.13 points.

The KSE-100 index dropped to 1818.52 from 1821.65 of Monday. The volume amounted to 226.547 million shares as against 271.359 million shares of Monday. The market capitalisation moved down to Rs 462.640 billion from Rs 463.529 billion of yesterday.

Faisal Abbas of AHR Securities said that the market was caught between two negative news regarding missile test by Pakistan and positive news that the Chief Executive had said that the Hubco dispute would be resolved on a priority basis.

Abbas added that fortunately, there had not been any disinvestment from local institutions and the DFIs, rather they watched the correction.

Profit taking was also seen in the end which eroded the index by 3.13 points which was up by 16 points at one point of time. Needless to say, after crossing the 1800 barrier, the weak holders felt that profit taking should emerge now and a technical correction might emerge at any time.

On the other hand, tension on the Line of Control was also cause of concern and market men were perhaps reluctant to establish fresh positions.

Mohammad Zubair Ellahi of KAB Securities said that the market was consolidating around current levels, shedding extra weight in high caps to make room for second tiers. This trimming might continue for a day or two providing good opportunity to re-enter.

Hubco on a trading of 59.2 million shares lost by 20 paisa to Rs 27.75, PTCL on a business of 59.108 million shares moved down by 65 paisa to Rs 30.65, Sui Northern Gas moved to Rs 20.70 from Rs 20.60 as nearly 17.138 million shares changed hands, KESC on a turnover of 15.694 million shares closed at Rs 12.90, higher by 70 paisa and ICI on a volume of 12.880 million shares remained unchanged at Rs 13.20.