Index sheds 35.65 points

The deteriorating law and order situation in various parts of the country forced the investors to offload their holdings in the second session and the index declined by 35.65 points to close at 7,056.31 points level on Friday. The market opened on a positive note and the index hit 7,138.23 points level intra-day high level, up by 46.27 points.
However, the news regarding bomb blasts in Lahore and Nowshera led to panic selling at the share market and the index lost its intra-day gains. Trading volumes, however, increased to 125.791 million shares as compared to 114.036 million shares traded on Thursday.
The overall market capitalisation declined by Rs 18 billion to Rs 2.082 trillion. Out of the 299 active scrips, 141 closed in the negative and 139 in the positive while the value of 19 scrips remained unchanged. Jahangir Siddiqui Co was the volume leader with 18.146 million shares and gained Re. 0.23 to close at Rs 25.27.
Fresh buying was witnessed in the cement sector, as DG Khan Cement, Lucky Cement and Fauji Cement increased by Re. 0.60, Re. 0.44 and Re. 0.15 to close at Rs 28.37, Rs 57.24 and Rs 6.87 with 15.179 million shares, 4.394 million shares and 3.800 million shares respectively.
Nishat Mills surged by Rs 1.83 to close at Rs 40.87 with 8.269 million shares. Arif Habib Sec closed at Rs 27.45, down by Re. 0.14 with 5.566 million shares. Azgard Nine gained Re. 0.75 to close at Rs 23.78 with 5.157 million shares.
MCB declined by Rs 2.43 to close at Rs 148.57 with 4.264 million shares. PTCL lost Re. 0.13 to close at Rs 15.47 with 3.785 million shares. Adamjee Insurance decreased by Rs 1.45 to close at Rs 85.88 with 3.594 million shares.
Unilever Pakistan and ICI Pakistan were the highest gainers and gained Rs 49.96 and Rs 5.61 with 2000.00 and Rs 150.25 respectively while Nestle Pakistan and Pak Services were the worst losers and lost Rs 35.00 and Rs 8.07 to close at Rs 925.00 and Rs 153.43 respectively.
Muhammad Sohail, leading analyst and CEO of Topline Securities said the fear that the government may impose new taxes in the budget affected the market sentiment negatively. The news of bomb blasts in different cities kept the investors on the sideline. However, he said, selected textile and cement stocks performed well amid hope that budgetary measures will be positive for these sectors.