Range-bound trading was observed on Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Friday and the as the index closed with a marginal decline while the turnover depicted a slight improvement due to interest in select scrips.
The LSE-25 index closed at 4387.81 points versus 4403.01 points of Thursday, depicting a decrease of 15.20 points. Trade turnover improved to 24.755 million shares from 22.676 million shares, increasing by 2.079 million shares.
There was overall dull activity in the market while oil sector showed negative vibes on account of decline in crude oil prices in the international market. However, buying interest in Sui Northern, Adamjee Insurance and some banks averted any untoward situation. It was the last trading day of the week. Therefore, majority of players adopted somewhat indifferent attitude, due to which the volume was almost static, analysts said. According to them, the market might pick up next week, on hopes of strong results in some key corporate sector companies, such as PPL.
Share values were mostly in narrow range and banks performed well as the monitory policy announced by the State Bank was not as harsh as was being anticipated, said Ahmed Nabeel, head of operations at Invest & Finance Securities Ltd.
As far as monitory control is concerned the SBP has announced that tight monitory policy will continue which seems a right step, he added. The market moved in a tight band and oil sector was depressed due to fall in oil prices in international market, but because of interest in banks the equity falls were limited and the index showed only a marginal decline, he said.
People are upbeat about corporate results and their expectations are very high about the PPL results scheduled to be announced on January 25, he said. It is anticipated that PPL EPS ratio for the second quarter may be 6.40 and for the half year 11.94. Another positive factor is the meeting of three stock exchanges' representatives with the Minister of State for Finance Omer Ayub Khan on January 24. Due to these reasons, the KSE index may reach 10,800-11,000 mark during the next week, Nabeel said.
The market people expect that the government might curtail the CVT ratio to half. "But I do not think the government will agree on it and, even if it does, the new rate of tax will be effective from the next budget. Moreover, reduction in only CVT will have no visible impact unless the government gives relaxation in all relevant taxes including presumptive tax imposed on shares' transactions," he added.
There were 27 gainers versus 32 gainers in a total of 129 scrips. Key gainers were Sui Northern, which improved by Rs 4.25, Adamjee Insurance Rs 1.70, Fauji Fertiliser Rs 1.65, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Rs 1.40 and Sui Southern Rs 1.20.
Major declines included PSO, which shed Rs 4.85, Pakistan Oilfields Rs 2.50, Callmate Telips Rs 2.50 while Engro Chemical and Nishat Mills Rs 1.90 and Rs 1.45, respectively. Fauji Fertiliser was the volume leader with 4.901 million shares followed by National Bank with 1.322 million shares.
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