Upward tendency continued for second straight session on Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE), where share prices recorded fresh gains mainly on account of buying support from local institutions. The LSE-25 index surged by 67.44 points or 1.50-percent to reach 4548.22 compared with 4480.78 of Thursday.
Volume also improved to 52.999 million shares from 42.952 million shares of the previous session, showing an increase of 10.046 million shares or 23.38-percent.
Bulls did not loose strength on the market despite high volatility, which prevailed throughout the day. Fresh buying in various sectors, particularly in oil and gas sector, boosted the sentiment and bulls resisted well every move of bears helping the index to end with a substantial gain, brokers said.
According to them, after PM's statement that there will be no tax on capital gains till June 30, 2007, the market has come out of the budget-related rumours and worries to a larger extent. Moreover, the news concerning upgrading of Pakistan's foreign currency ceiling by Moody's also contributed to the sentiment, he added. Oil sector and banks again led the proceedings with a centered activity in Pakistan Oilfields and MCB Bank. On the other side, cements showed weak signs while fertilisers depicted a mixed trend.
The market witnessed a 'see-saw' situation throughout the day, observing up and downward fluctuations, but due to institutional support, particularly form the locals, it managed a positive closing, Ahmed Nabeel, head of operations, Invest and Finance Securities Ltd, said. On Friday main buying support came from the local institutions like State Life and EOIB, he pointed out. At one stage, the market went down by 150 points and recovered shooting up by 225 points to finally finish with a curtailed gain, he further stated. According to him, on Friday, the Bombay stock market was also bullish and closed with 3.75 % percent gain, which also had an impact over the local bourses, he viewed.
Ahmed Nabeel said that the market has suffered heavily during the recent falls and the quantum of loss is even higher as compared to March 2005 crisis. During recent crisis, the market has lost approximately 10 billion dollars while in March last debacle, the estimated loss was 6 billion dollars, he pointed out. This crisis has made deep dents in the market and it will take time to get stable, he said, adding, the market is expected to remain volatile even after the budget and bearish trend could return, thus small investors and traders should stay on sidelines, Ahmed Nabeel said.
Out of a total of 97 traded scrips, 43 climbed up, 11 descended while 43 did not alter their preceding session positions. Among major gainers, Pakistan Oilfields gained Rs 11.50, MCB Bank Rs 8.85, PSO Rs 6.00, Engro Chemical Rs 4.50 and Nishat Mills Rs 4.30. In negative column, Fauji Fertiliser shed Re 1.00, D.S. Industries Rs 0.85, Maple Leaf Cement Rs 0.30, KESC and Bank Alfalah Rs 0.20 each.
OGDC and National Bank were the leaders in terms of high volume with 13.140 million and 11.583 million shares, respectively.
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