LSE index sheds 143.27 points

Bearish sentiment prevailed on the Lahore Stock Exchange on Tuesday and the equities registered losses across the board amid panic selling, and most of the shares were closed below the lower caps on account of negative development on the political front.
The LSE-25 slide down to 2965.81 against 3109.08 of Monday, depicting a decline of 143.27 points while the trading turnover increased to 7.402 million shares compared with previous volume of 7.087 million shares.
The market opened on a depressed note and remained under pressure throughout the day. Not only the local but also the foreign investors kept on offloading their holdings to secure their positions because of the acceleration of hostility between the two major political parties on the judges restoration issue that forced the PML (N) leadership to part its way from the coalition.
Because of the ongoing political tussle, the country's bourses witnessed huge outflow of over two trillion rupees in recent past, said Abbasi and Company's chief operating officer Syed Muhammad Ishaq while commenting on the market trend.
The depreciating local currency against the other major currencies including the dollar is also one of the reasons that kept the market under pressure. Not only the local stocks, but the regional and global markets also showed downward trend, he added.
He said the investors took the NEPRA recommendations for enhancing electricity tariff by 30 percent as it would push the production cost further up. Besides, a report revealed by a renowned brokerage house that KSE performance stayed second worst in all over the world also disappointed the investors who remained on the sidelines, he maintained.
The NIT Chairman Tariq Iqbal is expected to replace the SECP Chairman Razi ur Rehman who is reported to have resigned, and the investors are expecting that he would be able to take some appropriate measures for the safeguard of the stocks market.
The market is likely to remain under trouble for the next few days and the sentiments may change after the presidential election, he maintained. However, the investors are still optimistic about the market future who believed that following the Asif Ali Zardari's election as President, the sentiments would be changed in the mid of September, he added.
Of 82 active issues, only one company--Nimir Industrial Chemical--could manage gain of only 20 paisa, 53 recorded losses, and 28 stayed glued to their previous levels. Among losers, Shell Pak declined by Rs 21.20, PSO lost Rs 15.50, MCB Bank shed Rs 13.25, Pak Oil Fields depreciated Rs 13.15, while Adamjee Insurance and Engro Chemical were down by Rs 10.54 and Rs 9.25 respectively. NIB Bank with total trading of 1.557 million shares topped the volume leaders.