LSE settles in green zone amid heavy trading volume

The Lahore Stocks Exchange (LSE) settled in green zone amid heavy trading volume after the removal of floor following institutional, retail investors and foreign funds buying in selective scrip during the last week. The LSE-25 index marginally improved to 2317.95 on Friday, (April 10) against 2287.95 of previous Friday (April 3), thus depicting a gain of 29.98 points.
The transaction volume substantially improved by over 71 per cent to 223.546 million shares as compared to previous volume of 151.548 million traded during the week under review.
The banking, oil, cement and fertiliser sectors shares including National Bank, MCB Bank, NIB Bank, Bank Alfalah, Bank of Punjab, Allied Bank, Maple Leaf Cement, and Lucky Cement, DG Khan Cement, Adamjee Insurance, PPL, Shell Pak, Pakistan Oil Fields, PSO attracted the investors and closed with gains.
The market on Monday opened with a healthy sign and kept on moving in green zone throughout the day to which the analysts were of the view that the positive outlook of the countrys economy ignited buying spree.
They said the developing foreign exchange reserves, pledges of the friends of Pakistan and actual realisation of IMF loan into Pakistans account helped improve the market sentiments.
The market absorbed all negative news regarding the law and order situation, particularly, the bomb blasts, suicidal attacks in various parts of the country and sustained on the rising side because of strong fundamentals. As a result, the index also breached the psychological barrier of 2300 and finally closed with positive note on the weekend.
On Tuesday, the market maintained upward slide and further strengthened because of the buying trends that remained intact on the second trading day. Once the market amid vertical rise, touched the level of 2350, but could not sustain because of profit taking as the investors started getting out of the market to pocket the available margin. The experts said that the market was expected to face a downward move on account of technical correction. The bullish rally may continue in coming days but profit taking could contain the market rise to some extent as the investors prefer getting out of the market to secure their positions.
The positive sentiments could not sustain on Wednesday and market registered a fall of over 113 points because of the Securities Exchange of Commission of Pakistan (SECP) sudden decision to discontinue CFS Mark-II system.
This created a panic among the investors as they lost the financing facility and would have to rely on cash-based transactions. Because of the SECP decision, almost all the blue chips closed in minus column. The auction of treasury bills by the State Bank of Pakistan was another reason that kept the market under pressure.
The market observed mixed trend on Thursday and registered a marginal decline following killing of Baloch leaders and subsequent riots in Balochistan province. Moreover, the ending of peace camp in Swat by the Tahreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi chief Maulana Sufi Mohammad also left negative impact on the stock market.
The equities stayed in negative zone but fresh buying during last trading hour helped market recover its position to close with marginal loss. The sentiments changed into positive on the weekend on Friday and market showed a significant gain of over 100 points to stay above 2300 level.
The market analysts attributed the bullish rally to an important development towards reconciliation process. The National Assembly Speaker had constituted a parliamentary committee to work on implementation of the chartered of democracy to respond the Pakistan Muslim League (N) demands.
The investors took this news positively and stayed on buying course till the end of trading. Most of the blue chips including PSO, PPL, Attock Refinery, Shell Pak, MCB Bank, Habib Bank, National Bank, Fauji Fertiliser, Engro Chemical, and ICI Pak extended gains due to aggressive buying. The investors were of the view that the bullish sentiments could prevail in current week subject to profit taking that could push the market slightly down.