Selling pressure in key scrips dominated the share market where equities, led by cement sector, continued to depreciate, following rumours regarding government's dam policy.
The LSE-25 index was down by 24.47 points and closed at 2799.72 as against 2824.19 of Thursday. The volume also drifted lower to 61.614 million shares from 66.861 million of the preceding session, registering a net fall of 5.247 million shares.
Bears continued to dominate the proceedings during the entire day, supported by rumours concerning government's dam policy, which brought bad impact on cement sector.
According to stock analysts, cement sector has remained centre of activity for last many days on anticipation of construction of new dams. There was a strong anticipation in the stock market that President Musharraf on his return from abroad might announce the government policy on dams due to which interest of general as well as big players had escalated in the entire cement sector, they added.
In the recent past the cement sector has registered record sales and in view of the growing demand of cement, almost all companies are engaged in the process of expansion of their plants to maintain balance in demand and supply in future, they said.
The banking sector, which has also remained in the spotlight on hopes of its strong earnings, was another major victim of selling pressure, brokers said, adding that lack of support from institutional side further added to its intensity. However, they pointed out that oil and gas fared better and gave support to the market, averting possibility of disaster, brokers said.
Stock analyst Jamshed Baqi of Invest & Finance Securities Ltd said that the market remained under pressure in both sessions with cement and banking sector as key losers.
According to him, the rumours about dam policy also disappointed investors and they squared positions. In fact, the rumours that the government is likely to revise its envisaged policy on dams triggered pressure leaving bad impact on the cement sector.
Out of a total of 83 scrips, 12 strengthened their positions, 32 showed weak signs while 39 were unchanged.
Among key gainers, Pakistan Oilfields was up Rs 23.00; Fauji Fertiliser Rs 4.45; PSO Rs 1.55; Hub Power Rs 1.25; and ICI Rs 0.85.
In the negative column, Pakland Cement declined by Rs 3.10; D.G. Khan Cement Rs 2.15; Bank Alfalah Rs 2.00; Adamjee Insurance Rs 1.50; and Lucky Cement Rs 1.40.
Bank of Punjab and National Bank topped volume leaders with respective turnovers of 11.204 million shares and 8.313 million shares.