Share values moved in a zig-zag manner on Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Wednesday in the absence of any guiding factor, and the market after fluctuating up and down ended on a bullish note. The LSE-25 index closed at 4392.08 points against 4375.13 points of Tuesday, improving by 16.95 points.
The volume surged to 31.591 million shares from 23.754 million showing an increase of 7.837 million shares. Investors appeared confused and indecisive due to various unconfirmed news and rumours, which prevented the market to take a single direction. Brokers said that the market was in a positive mood in initial hours but later came under pressure and finally ended with reduced gain. National Bank and Engro Chemical were main victims of pressure while PSO and ICI Pakistan gained strength to end with substantial gains. According to analysts, the sentiment was bullish on expectations of corporate results, but as a matter of fact, it needed some extraordinary news to go for a fresh rally.
In the early hours, the market performed pretty well but later pressure emerged on a report regarding presidential election, Javed Iqbal, chief executive of Javed Iqbal Securities Ltd, said. According to the report, the existing assemblies would elect President Musharraf for the next term, which caused pressure in the market. Besides, the State Bank is likely to announce monitoring policy on Thursday, which was also a reason for depressed sentiment in banking sector, he said. Moreover, a statement of Bank of Punjab President regarding Crescent Bank was also a factor for igniting pressure, especially in the banking sector.
According to Javed Iqbal, under the prevailing situation the market seems charmless and people are confused. The CVT and new risk management measures have wiped out day traders, resulting in drastic reduction in volume, he observed. Now all eyes are on the meeting scheduled between bourses representatives with the minister of state for finance Umer Auyb on January 24, in which, some relaxation in CVT is expected, which might help bring the day traders back to the market, he said.
There were 31 gainers against 27 losers with 65 unchanged of a total of 123 scrips changing hands. Among major gainers, PSO gained Rs 6.55, ICI Pakistan Rs 3.75, Adamjee Insurance Rs 3.00, UBL Rs 2.90 and PPL Rs 2.50. Leading losers included National Bank shedding Rs 4.65, Engro Chemical Rs 2.95, Pakistan Oilfields Rs 2.50, Callmate Rs 1.55 and OGDC Rs 1.45. National Bank and Bank Alfalah were the volume leaders with 2.872 million shares and 2.560 million shares, respectively.
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