Despite week-end selling pressure in blue chips, share prices remained stable in the local stock market, where the index ended with a slight decline.
Trading commenced with a strong note and subsequently the market managed to maintain the rising tempo most of the time on the day. Equities, however, were dragged lower due to the last-minute pressure following profit-taking in blue chips, forcing the LSE-25 index to end with a nominal fall of 2.60 points, closing at 2665.06 as against 2667.66 of Thursday.
The day's volume edged lower with 96.181 million shares compared with 102.168 million, posting a decline of 5.987 million shares.
Stock analysts said in both the sessions they, despite weakness in the big stocks, saw brisk buying activity in low-priced shares, led by Dewan Salman Fibre and D.G. Khan Cement, which kept the index in the bullish zone.
"People were in buying mood and we expect a good trading session when the market re-opens on Monday, a broker said. On the other hand, fuel and energy sector, leading the proceedings during the last two days, was not much active on Friday. Both PSO and Sui Northern registered handsome gains on Thursday but they portrayed a dismal picture on Friday, they stated.
The winner of the day was Dewan Salman Fibre followed by cement sector on the basis of its strong fundamentals, said Ahmed Nabeel, head of operations at Invest & Finance Securities Ltd.
He added that the report of raise in prices of fibre has sparked activity in Dewan Salman Fibre, ICI and Pakistan PTA, which did very well on Friday.
In the last minute, the market observed a short-correction due to which the index closed with a minor loss. However, he pointed out that the sentiment is still bullish and the rally, which is being described as 'Eid rally', may continue during the next week.
Recently, the market has performed well and depicted healthy signs, both in terms of volume and capitalisation, he maintained. He added badla volume and badla capitalisation has also shown improvement due to which gap between Pakistani and Indian markets have narrowed down.
"The Bombay stock market, some time back, was around 1,600 points ahead of the Pakistani market but now in the last few days this gap has squeezed to 800 points."
Though the market is expected to maintain the rising tempo, people are advised to opt profit taking before Eid, he said. After Eid, the market might undergo technical correction, he pointed out.
Out of a total of 96 scrips, changing hands, 14 improved its worth, 29 showed weak signs while 53 maintained its overnight levels. Among key gainers, Dewan Salman Fibre was up by Rs 1.45, D.G. Khan Cement Rs 0.80, Nishat Mills Rs 0.70, PIAC Rs 0.62 and Pakistan PTA Rs 0.45.
In the negative column, PSO was down by Rs 4.70, Sui Northern Rs 3.70, Engro Chemical Rs 2.85, Sui Southern Rs 1.35 and Fauji Fertiliser Re 1.00. D.G. Khan was the volume leader with 17.787 million share turnover.
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