Equities moved both ways on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and finally settled in negative zone amid ascending transaction volume on account of selling pressure generated following army operation at Lal Masjid.
The LSE-25 index declined by 41.29 points, closing at 4842.30 points against 4883.59 points of Monday, while trading turnover increased to 61.676 million shares against 47.676 million shares traded a day earlier. PSO, Japan Power, Pakistan PTA helped market sentiments while Javed Omer Vohra and Co, Arif Habib Securities, and Lucky Cement remained under pressure.
The market opened on a positive note, but could not sustain and succumbed to selling pressure due mainly to army operation at Lal Masjid. Apart from this, high alert in all cities of Pakistan also created panic-like situation that shattered the investors' confidence. Resultantly, the investors appeared to be reluctant in taking fresh positions rather they preferred to get out of the market to secure their positions.
Similarly, the foreign buyers showed reluctance in buying and offloaded their holdings, said Amer Hussain Khan of Invest and Finance Securities, while commenting on the market sentiments.
He said the SCRA has also moved down by about $4 million. Another factor that forced the investors to stay away from buying course was downgrading of Pakistan economic position from positive to stable. Moreover, the market was in overbought position and it was expected to face downward trend, he added.
Declining stocks were ahead of advancing ones, as out of a total of 130 active issues, 18 companies registered gains, 48 went down, while 64 stayed glued to their previous levels.
Among gainers, PSO appreciated by Rs 5.50, ICI Pak and Standard Chartered Bank gained Rs 2.00 each, while United Bank and Japan Power were also up by Rs 2.00 each.
In the minus column, Javed Omer Vohra & Co, depreciated by Rs 15.30, Admajee Insurance lost Rs 8.50, Allied Bank declined by Rs 5.00, while Pak Oil Fields and Arif Habib Securities were down by Rs 4.95 and Rs 4.30, respectively.
Arif Habib Securities was the market leader whose 8.037 million shares changed hands followed by Bank Alfalah with total transaction of 6.947 million shares.