Share prices on Lahore Stock Exchange moved both ways on Friday due to confusion over the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in petitions challenging the candidature of General Musharraf. The LSE-25 index, with a fractional downward fluctuation of 6.12 points, finished at 4,914.39 compared with past day's 4,920.51 points.
Turnover was slightly down to 32.469 million shares from 33.680 million shares on Thursday. The market underwent wide-ranging fluctuation of around over 300 points on conflicting news about the SC decision. Brokers said that because of rumours and unconfirmed reports about the SC judgement, the market failed to take a clear direction and kept moving either way. The oil sector appeared a key prey of pressure, followed by cements, they said.
Volume was also slightly down, which indicated majority of people were on sidelines, waiting for settling down the political dust, they added. Uncertainty about SC decision was the prime factor causing pressure in the market, Amer Hussain Khan of Invest and Finance Securities, said.
In early session, there was a strong anticipation that the SC bench could stay the presidential election due to be held on Saturday, due to which the market was under immense pressure.
However, when the apex court announced not to stay the election, the market started recovering but ended on a weak note, he said. He, however, pointed out that despite pressure the banks fared better and added fresh gains to their worth on the back of buying interest in them. He said that foreign buyers were still active in the market, which was evident from the SCRA figures, which rose from $978 million to $1,025 million. He said that activity was expected to remain dull till October 17, but long-term outlook of the market seemed quite positive for investment.
The day's key gainers were Pakistan Reinsurance Co, which gained Rs 19.15, Allied Bank Rs 6.40, JOVC Rs 4.95, Arif Habib Securities Rs 4.90 and National Bank Rs 4.60.
Among top losers, National Refinery shed Rs 11.65, Pakistan Oilfields Rs 5.00, Habib Bank Rs 4.90, PPL Rs 3.65 and PSO Rs 3.50. Arif Habib Securities topped volume leaders list with 5.583 million shares followed by Bank Alfalah with 3.756 million shares.