Bearish trend continued to prevail on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) where equities registered more losses mainly on account of lacking interest on the part of institutions as well as potential investors.
The LSE-25 index further declined by 61.25 points, closing at 3418.52 against 3479.77 of Wednesday, while transaction volume squeezed to 28.187 million shares as compared to 30.246 million shares traded on Wednesday.
Almost all the blue chips including PSO, PPL, MCB, National Bank, Bank of Punjab, Nishat Mills, ICI Pak, Fauji Fertiliser, and OGDC remained under pressure and closed in minus column. However, Adamjee Insurance, Union Bank, Faysal Bank and Askari Commercial Bank resisted the declining trend and finished in positive zone.
The market, which opened on a depressed note, remained in negative zone throughout the day. The negative sentiments kept the market in narrow range, which discouraged the investors. The LSE index has lost over 279 points during last four days.
The market experts were of the view that there was nothing new which could push the market downward. The issues including resolution of COT and tussle between the stocks exchange managers and regulator (Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan) were the main factor of downward trend in the market, said Ahmad Nabeel of Invest and Finance Securities, while commenting on the market trend. The main reason was lacking interest on the part of institutions, which failed to play their due role for giving boost to the market.
Therefore, potential as well as small investors stayed away from the buying course, he added. 'The increased interest rate could also be one of the factors, which negatively affected the economic growth, particularly the stocks business', he maintained. At present, not only the investors, but also major brokers are also offloading their portfolio to secure their positions.
A group of market punters was optimistic and expecting some improvement in the stock business in coming days following taking over charge of SECP head by Tariq Iqbal Khan of NIT, as according to a rumour, the SECP chairman Dr Tariq Hassan is proceeding on leave.
Declining stocks were again ahead of advancing ones, as out of a total of 90 scrips, 12 managed gains, 31 went down and 47 closed on previous closing levels.
Among gainers, Union Bank gained Rs 0.95, Faysal Bank improved by Rs 0.50, while Adamjee Insurance and Japan Power were up by Rs 0.25 each. In the minus column, MCB declined by Rs 2.50, PSO lost Rs 2.30, while ICI Pak and National Bank were down by Rs 2.00 and Rs 1.80, respectively.
PTCL was the market leader whose 8.325 million shares changed hands followed by PPL with total trading of 4.767 million shares.
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