LSE maintains rising tempo

Share prices maintained the rising tempo on last trading day of the week on Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) where banking sector again took the lead and helped the market record fresh gains with further improvement in turnover.
The LSE-25 index surged to 4586.83 points from 4561.68 points of Thursday, improving by 25.15 points. Overall turnover also soared to 46.860 million shares from 37.925 million of the preceding session, registering an increase of 8.935 million shares.
Although gains were limited as compared to the last couple of sessions, the bullish sentiment continued to prevail with an abnormal interest in the banking sector, which outperformed. Barring MCB Bank, there was an across the board surge in the banking sector and even a number of low-profiled banks were very upbeat, brokers said.
However, they added, that petroleum sector which have been moving upward along with the banks, stayed depressed. Profit taking was also witnessed on Friday but strong interest in banks kept the market in green zone, they further said. Bank of Punjab and Allied Bank were the day's key gainers while PPL and Arif Habib Securities Ltd, were the major declining stocks.
The market not only performed well on Friday, but also during the whole week, due to various news and rumours which were received as positive developments by the brokers, Ahmed Nabeel, head of operations, Invest and Finance Securities Ltd, said.
The first news was the report released by a US Fund "Morgan Stanley" on 19th January, which projected Pakistan a cheaper market and its Price Earning (PE) better than other regional markets. One-month extension in client level netting regime was also a reason for luring investors, he added.
Another factor, which brought a positive impact on the market, was 24th January's report of City Group regarding the OGDL fair value. It determined its value at Rs 140. All such factors generated foreign buying interest, particularly in MCB Bank, National Bank and PPL, he pointed out.
SCRA also improved on the back of the said reports, reaching $360 million mark, he further said. About massive buying in MCB Bank, he said it was due to a rumour that it was preparing for partnership with Barkley Bank.
Moreover, expectation of corporate result also created hype among the investors and they kept indulging in buying. If the situation remains peaceful during Muharram, the market will continue showing bullish signs after Ashura, Ahmed Nabeel observed.
In all, 139 scrips changed hands of which 32 gained their worth, 22 landed in minus column while 85 remained intact to their previous levels. Among major gainers Bank of Punjab (BoP) improved by Rs 4.65, Allied Bank Rs 3.50, National Bank Rs 2.35, Faysal Bank Rs 2.20 and NIB Bank Rs 1.75. In negative column, PPL shed Rs 5.55, Arif Habib Securities Ltd, Rs 5.50, MCB Bank Rs 4.00, Fauji Fertiliser Rs 3.90 and Adamjee Insurance Rs 2.20. Bank of Punjab and National Bank also led the volume leaders with 9.308 million shares and 4.146 million shares, respectively.