The local share market failed to maintain the overnight rising posture on the weekend and fell victim to selling pressure, notably in National Bank and PPL, forcing the indeed to nose-dive 3.87-percent.
The LSE-25 index retreated to 5075.41 points from 5280.15 of Thursday, registering a fall of 204.74 points. Volume further decreased to 47.391 million shares from 63.548 million shares of the past session, depicting a fall of 16.156 million shares.
The market showed negative vibes right from beginning to the close while pressure from the institutions in the second session adversely affected the sentiment. Brokers said that the market failed to maintain last day's recovery trend due to selling pressure emerging in initial hours of trading. In second session, institutions also off-loaded, resulting in sharp equity falls, analysts said. PSO, however, resisted the pressure and despite overall weak sentiment managed a positive closing. Nishat (Chunian) was another scrip which added fresh gains to its worth. On the other end, National Bank and PPL underwent battering and suffered heavily.
It seems the market is melting and entering reversal phase gradually in absence of fresh support, said Ahmed Nabeel, head of operations at Invest & Finance Securities Ltd.
Except NBP, all major companies have announced their results, therefore, interest is diminishing in the market. Now the announcement of NBP and inauguration of Tal block in NWFP and PSO privatisation are the only ray of hope, he added. He said that prime minister is scheduled to inaugurate the Tal block on Monday.
According to him, any news regarding delay in PSO sell-off or small size of Tal block reservoirs, which is not yet to be known, might have negative impact on the market. As far as foreign investment inflow is concerned, after the Bush visit it is on the decline, he pointed out, adding, after Bush visit the figure of foreign funds investment has declined to $450 million from $471 million which means the market is getting weak fundamentally. There are also reports that Privatisation Commission and Etisalat have finalised agreement for PTCL deal, but it will make no difference for the shareholders. There also seems a tussle is going on between big wigs and in case a big player is disturbed, it will affect the entire market, he pointed out.
According to him, this whole start of affairs indicates the market has entered the reversal phase, therefore, sell on strength policy should be adopted at this stage and general public and small investors are advised to stay on sidelines.
In all, 100 scrips changed hands, of which 8 improved in worth, 43 landed in minus zone, while 49 were intact to their previous levels. Among major gainers, PSO was up Rs 8.00, Nishat (Chunian) Rs 3.00, NIB Bank Rs 1.65, Prime Commercial Bank Rs 1.05 and Engro Chemical Re 1.00. In minus zone, National Bank shed Rs 14.30, PPL Rs 11.10, MCB Bank Rs 8.90, DG Khan Cement Rs 7.95 and OGDC Rs 6.85.
PTCL and National bank led the proceedings by volume with 5.450 million shares and 5.234 million shares, respectively.
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