Led by petroleum sector, equities suffered losses across the board on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) amid ascending transaction volume on account of selling pressure in PTCL. The LSE-25 index declined by 102.73 points, closing at 3794.50 against 3897.23 of Monday, while trading turnover increased to 68.070 million shares as compared to 50.989 million shares traded a day earlier.
Only cement sector shares witnessed increase in its values, while PTCL, PSO, PPL, OGDC, Faysal Bank, Muslim Commercial Bank, and Bank of Punjab remained under pressure and closed in minus column.
The market opened on a healthy note, but could not sustain it, and started declining soon after less than half an hour of trading, due to selling pressure, particularly in PTCL, which affected the market sentiments.
As a result, the PTCL, which remained market leader in recent bullish rallies, also led the blue chips downward, including oil and gas sector shares. Only the cement sector shares surged on the news of construction of two big dams in the country. PTCL could not sustain and started declining despite the fact it had received handsome offer of $1.96 per share from Etisalat, whose shares are declining in UAE, which also led the PTCL downward, said Ahmad Nabeel of Invest and Finance Securities while commenting on the market trend.
The market experts were of the view that PTCL was moving on the basis of privatisation, and once the process is completed, its impact on the market is over, as the news has already been discounted, he maintained.
Another factor that led the market downward was auction of treasury bills (TBs) to be held on Wednesday. The market could face depression, as the report regarding stock market crash in March is due, and the issue of margin financing still exists, he added. The soaring oil prices, the increase in the inflation rate and interest rate, are negative factors for the country's economy, which has adversely affected the stocks business, he said.
However, in the next quarter, starting from July, the market may improve and one should invest in oil and gas sector, fertiliser, , and cement sectors, he suggested.
Declining stocks were ahead of advancing ones, as out of a total of 75 active issues, six companies registered gains, 33 went down, while 36 stayed glued to its previous levels.
Lucky Cement gained Rs 1.50; ICI Pakistan improved by 85 paisa, while Fauji Cement and Pioneer Cement were up by 45 paisa and 10 paisa, respectively.
PSO declined by Rs 11.55, PPL lost Rs 4.50, OGDC depreciated by Rs 4.30, while Faysal Bank and Muslim Commercial Bank were down by Rs 2.70 and Rs 2.40, respectively.
PTCL was the volume leader whose 30.814 million shares changed hands followed by OGDC with total transaction of 9.027 million shares.
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