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Erratic movementlauds KSE index in minusRECORDER REPORTKARACHI: Erratic movement at the stock market on weekend marred the bull run and off-loading by weak holders and profit-taking from the speculative forces pushed the index into minus territory.

The KSE-100 index fell by 4.56 points to 1906.91 from 1911.47 of Thursday. The volume amounted to 279.059 million shares, against 268.040 million shares of Thursday. About 284 companies were called on the ready board, of which 99 showed plus signs and 147 were losers, while 38 remained unchanged.

The market opened on a positive note, but showed fluctuations after every passing hour. Values were not constant and price variations were quite wild. Before the end of the first session, the trend appeared to be positive, and analysts were of the opinion that the market might close on a higher note.

But profit-taking activity from some of the leading brokerage houses and market punters narrowed the margin between losers and gainers. This continued unabated and bears slowly took control of the proceedings. The index gain, which had amounted to almost over 40 points during the session, evaporated into a thin air and the efforts made by the bulls fizzled out.

An analyst from Westminster and Eastern Services said that bulls opened the market in upward direction under the lead of PSO, PTCL, Hubco and ICI and the index registered a handsome gain of 43 points during the morning session. The bears, in the later session marched into the ring in the last minutes, causing dents across the board. The market, thus, closed on a weak note causing uncertainty for the coming week.

He said that the KSE index still had positive trend, but selling pressure was witnessed in the last minutes of the session, in which weak holders dumped their holding to ease off the heaviness of the market. He said that the market might open on a weak note in the coming session and consolidate in the later session.

A dealer of AHR Securities, said that the positive news regarding PTCL, where its subsidiary company Pak Mobile Telecom signed an agreement with a Canadian company for mobile phone operations and also Habib Bank agreed to provide a loan of Rs 2 billion, had given boost to the market sentiment on Thursday which continued in the Friday session, where the index remained in the positive column for most of the day.

But selling pressure emerged just half hour before the closing on account of rumour regarding fresh clash on the border, and the index fell sharply. He pointed out that as there was no institutional support available at that time, the bears availed of the opportunity freely.

Marketmen were of the view that the market needed a correction of further 60 to 70 points in the forthcoming sessions. Hence, that point would be considered as the adjusted and the rock-bottom level for the investors to jump in and pour in some fresh funds.

PTCL on a trading of 121.696 million shares showed a rise of 40 paisa to Rs 31.65; Hub Power moved down to Rs 26.55 from Rs 26.65 as nearly 54.174 million shares changed hands; PSO on a turnover of 33.587 million shares unchanged at Rs 255, ICI on a volume of 27.557 million shares closed at Rs 14.45, lower by 10 paisa; and Sui Northern Gas on a business of 9.751 million shares moved down by 30 paisa to Rs 21.50.