Share prices maintained the upward tempo on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE), where the benchmark index crossed 5000 points mark, ending with 2.48 percent fresh gain amid declining transactions volume.
The market remained in upward mood on last trading day of the week with the LSE-25 index reaching 5031.21 points from 4909.28 points of Wednesday, showing a net gain of 121.93 points. The volume, however, depicted downward tendency retreating to 38.236 million shares from previous day's 46.065 million shares, showing a fall of 7.829 million shares.
It was last day of the shortened weekend and most of the people were expecting a pressure, but the market tempo surprised every one, analyst said, adding heavy interest in oil and gas sector helped it maintain the rising tempo. "We can term it a pre-Eid rally which mainly depended on hefty gains in exploration companies' scrips and banking stocks which gave a marvelous performance on Thursday and also led the market upward," a broker commented on the market attitude.
OGDC topped the gainers list followed by National Bank while Pakistan Oil fields, and PSO were the key sufferers. The market will remain closed on Friday account of Juma-tul-Widah and from Monday to Thursday following public holidays announced by the federal government for Eidul Fitr.
The market has recorded excellent gains and made smooth trading during this week, indicating it is fundamentally strong, said Javed Iqbal, chief executive, Javed Iqbal Securities. "I have always been very much optimistic about the market and talking of 15,000 of KSE and this week's performance of the market has made my perception true", he added.
If no fresh hurdle comes in the way of the market, it will continue its journey towards the said level, he predicted. All seems well on political and economic fronts and that is why foreign buying keeps pouring in, but low volume, mainly caused by CVT, is not a good omen, he pointed out.
If the government wants the stock market continue with its present pace, it must review its policy towards CVT, which has dried the volume drastically, Javed Iqbal maintained.
The government revenue received through CVT is around 6 billion, but withdrawal of this tax could fetch it much more than expectations, he said. Therefore, if the government withdraws the CVT, the move would not only foster the market, but would also enhance its revenue by way of increased transactions volume, he added.
According to him, the current sentiment of the market indicates a bright future of the market with the oil and gas sector, fertilisers and banks emerging as the key contributing forces.
In all 105 scrips were traded, of which 28 improved their worth, 30 showed negative vibes, while 47 stayed intact to their preceding levels. Key gainers were OGDC improving by Rs 7.00, National Bank Rs 6.45, PPL Rs 5.60, UBL Rs 3.80 and Javed Omer Vohra Rs 2.60.
In red zone, Pakistan Oilfields shed Rs 6.70, PSO Rs 3.50, Faysal Bank Rs 1.80, Pakistan Industrial Credit Rs 1.75 and Nishat Mills Rs 1.60. The OGDC was the volume leaders of the day with 8.055 million shares followed by National Bank 7.211 million shares, respectively.
Comments
Comments are closed.