Lahore stocks reassemble

With buying interest in oil & gas sector and banking stocks, share values on Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) showed upward tendency on Monday, amid declining trade turnover.
The LSE-25 index moved up by 16.36 points, ending at 2819.56 as against 2803.20 points of Friday's closing. Overall volume totalled 55.683 million shares compared with 69.556 million of the previous closing, posting a fall of 13.873 million shares.
The market remained bullish during the session following investors' encouraging interest in oil & gas sector, notably in PPL and OGDC. It was the first day of provisional trading of PPL, which received an overwhelming response from investors, stock analysts said.
PPL opened at Rs 100 and after touching its high at 118.20 closed at 115.00. Banking stocks also remained very active, mainly because of good announcements of NIT. They said that growing interest in oil & gas sector and banking stocks indicates that the trend may persist on Tuesday.
Ahmed Nabeel, head of research, Invest & Finance Securities Ltd said that the market performance was encouraging with the provisionally traded PPL appearing as key contributing force. Its impact was also seen on OGDC, which also delivered well.
PPL outperformed on the first day of its provisional trading and its rate was far above expectations of analysts, who were expecting its rate in the provisional trading between Rs 65-75., he added. He said it was also being anticipated that due to overwhelming interest in PPL, interest in OGDC will decline but it did not happen and OGDC performed well.
"I understand that PPL is an expensive share in which only big players will buy, therefore, small investors and traders' interest will ultimately divert to OGDC," he said.
There is also possibility that to push the traders and weak holders out of the market, big players could buy in PPL and sell in OGDC. About the future trend, Nabeel said that during this week, the market is expected to move in a zigzag way and due to implementation of CVT and withholding tax on stock brokers, the badla may also remain tight. Hence, the chances for a correction are also there. At this stage, people are advised to be careful in trading.
He said that by mid of July, the market would turn bullish on hopes of corporate results for the year ending June 30, 2004.
Out of a total of 51 traded scrips, 22 improved in worth, 26 showed negative sings while three were unchanged. Among major gainers, Pakistan Petroleum Limited gained Rs 15.50, Pakistan Industrial Credit Rs 3.00, Bank of Punjab Rs 1.90, Union Bank Rs 1.80 and Pakland Cement Rs 1.65. In minus column PSO declined by Rs 1.20, Adamjee Insurance Rs 1.05, Engro Chemical Re 1.00, Hub Power Rs 0.80 and Maple Leaf Cement Rs 0.75. Bank of Punjab and OGDC were volume leaders with 12.791 million shares and 9.200 million shares, respectively.