Fuelled by fresh buying in banks and oil sector, bulls took control of driving seat on Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE), where the benchmark index gained 1.79-percent with a slight improvement in volume. The LSE-25 index surged to 4374.32 points from 4297.17 points of Wednesday, ending with a net gain of 77.15 points.
Trade turnover mounted to 31.568 million shares from 29.958 million of the previous session, increasing by 1.120 million shares. The market took a good start but till mid-day it showed a volatile movement, brokers said. Subsequently, buying surfaced in key banks and petroleum sector helped the market show strength, they added.
According to some analysts, the market was oversold; therefore, it was likely to move in upward direction on technical ground. PPL and PSO in oil sector while MCB and National Bank in banking sector performed well and helped bulls recapture the floor, after a long bearish spell. Stock experts said that the market was still oversold and the existing levels could attract buyers on Friday. However, one should also be ready to face routine weekend pressure, they stated.
The market has been in consolidation phase for the last few sessions; hence, possibility of positive turn in its mood was very much there, Mirza Muhammad Irfan, equity research head of Capital Vision Securities Ltd, said. Cement sector has remained in the spotlight during the last couple of sessions, but on Thursday petroleum shares and banking sector dominated the sentiment. In the second half of the session, the market took a sharp turn on the basis of aggressive buying in National Bank, PPL, Parco, PSO and OGDC, which led the index in upward direction, he pointed out.
Institutional buying interest was also visible on Thursday, particularly in oil sector, which outperformed, he said, adding, international agency Merill Lynch report on PSO also aided the market sentiment. Besides, Iranian decision to release the British sailors also brought a positive impact on the market sentiment, he said. After the new Iranian move, the market people believe that international pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme will decrease. If further improvement takes place in the volume which is still very low, the trend might sustain in the coming days, he concluded.
There were 41 gainers against 18 losers with 66 unchanged of a total of 125 scrips changing hands on the floor. Among major gainers, PPL was up Rs 7.65, MCB Bank Rs 6.80, National Bank Rs 6.10, PSO Rs 6.00, Pakistan Oilfields Rs 3.50 and Javed Omer Vohra Rs 3.25. In minus zone, DS Industries shed Rs 2.20, ICI Pakistan Rs 1.85, Lucky Cement Rs 0.55, Union Leasing Rs 0.50 and Gharibwal Cement Rs 0.45.
Bank Alfalah and Fauji Cement were the volume leaders with 4.630 million and 4.025 million shares, respectively.
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