Despite cut in badla rates, equities eroded their values across the board amid selling pressure on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) mainly on account of lack of buying support. The LSE-25 index fell by 51.91 points, closing at 2669.58 against 2721.49 of Monday, while transaction volume increased to 51.063 million shares as compared to 48.914 million shares traded a day earlier.
Picic, Dewan Farooq Motors, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, and WorldCall resisted the sharp decline, but PSO, Engro Chemical, Askari Commercial Bank, ICI Pak, PTCL, PPL, DG Khan Cement, Maple Leaf Cement, and Bank of Punjab led the market in negative zone.
After opening on a depressed note, the market maintained upward trend for a short while, but could not survive, and started moving down mainly on account of selling pressure in blue chips.
The investors, after having been disappointed with the announcement of results of PSO and National Bank of Pakistan, lost their interest in trading. Though, both PSO and NBP showed earning per share of Rs 7 for first quarter and Rs 8.50 for last three quarters, respectively, yet both disappointed the investors, thus depriving them of any pay-out, said Ahmad Nabeel of Invest and Finance Securities while commenting on the market sentiments.
The market decline also contributed by PTCL, which started disturbing the market trend soon after commencement of trading.
PTCL, being one of the major index-based shares remained under selling pressure due to investors' anticipation of below expectation's announcement, he said, adding there would be no obstacle in the market's sharp decline if PTCL and OGDC would not have announced any pay-out to their shareholders.
He was of the view that the cement sector's financial results would be encouraging, but it has no potential to keep the market on upward trend for long period. During last three-four days, the badla rate at LSE has fallen from 18.75 percent to 14 percent, but this factor also failed to provide support to the market, Nabeel added.
The banks' interest rates are also on the rise, which would encourage the investors to shift their investment from stocks to banks, he said, and warned the investors to abstain from taking long-term position, as US presidential candidate John Kerry is gaining popularity, and he wins the election, it would leave negative impact on the Pakistani bourses and the index could see a dip of 300-400 points.
Declining stocks were far ahead of advancing ones as out of a total of 83 active issues, five registered gains, 37 landed in negative column, while 41 stayed glued to its previous levels.
Picic gained Rs 1.10, Dewan Farooq Motors appreciated by 50 paisa, Fauji Fertiliser and WorldCall were up by 45 paisa and 40 paisa, respectively.
In the negative column, Askari Commercial Bank lost Rs 3.35, PSO declined by Rs 2.75, Engro Chemical and ICI Pak shed Rs 2.40 each, while PTCL and Zeal Pak Cement were down by Rs 2.00 and Re 1.00, respectively.
Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim was the market leader with 12.352 million shares followed by OGDC with total transaction of Rs 7.273 million shares.
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