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Blue chip stocks attract weekend profit-selling

KARACHI — Pakistani stocks yesterday closed the weekend session on a bit hesitant note as investors could not precisely decide how to react to both the positive and the negative news at the same time but their weaker links indulged in profit-selling.

After early breaching through the barrier of 14,000 points on 14,070.05 on the strength of leading base shares, the KSE 100-share index finally finished with a clipped gain of 34.93 points at 13,998.52 as compared to 13,963.59 a day earlier. But on the other hand KSE 30-share index rose by 71.64 points at 16,755.72.

It was the last day of the rollover week and it took its roll in the form of selling and rolling of positions from the rung off November contracts to the ruling December delivery.

The oath taking by the president Musharraf for the second term and his pledge to the nation that the emergency will be lifted on December 16, meeting most of the demands of the opposition should have buoyed investors amid hopes of smooth sailing on the political front, said a leading stock analyst Ashraf Zakaria.

“But some political jitters are still there, which did not allow larger investment,” he said adding “the opposition's decision to boycott January 8, election if the prior to November 3, conditions including restoration of judges was not restored.”

Another leading analyst Ahsan Mehanti said the prevailing political polarisation including rigid positions taken by the contenders of power on certain issues continued to have their toll in the form of price erosions despite credible performance turned in by the oil and cement sectors.

“Official hint at the US interest rate cut possibly by the next month gave a tremendous boost to world bourses and the local stock market could hardly be an exception despite the fact that it may not have a massive foreign stake,” analyst Hasnain Asghar Ali predicts.

Trading volume suffered sharp setback at 215 million shares from the previous 310 million shares as losers held a modest lead over the gainers at 159 to 152, with 37 shares holding on to the last levels.