The share market failed to maintain the rising posture on Thursday and moved both ways though the buying interest in insurance, oil sector and banks, helped the index finish with only a fractional loss. The LSE-25 Index closed at 4,454.95 points as opposed to 4,461.15 on Wednesday, depicting a slight decline of 6.20 points.
Volume lowered to 25.986 million shares from 27.615 million, registering a decrease of 1.629 million shares. The market took a little pause to consolidate itself after showing a positive movement for three consecutive sessions, analysts said, adding that it could improve on Friday if the Supreme Court gives a verdict favouring President Pervez Musharraf.
Although the index showed a downward movement in the end, the Mian Mansha Group shares and oil sector advanced which provided strength to the market. Adamjee Insurance on Thursday topped gainers' list while Pak Suzuki Motors Co led the declining stocks.
According to some brokers, they market is expected to paint a see-saw picture with short bubbles till the completion of the electoral process in the country, thus investors need to make their deals very carefully.
"The market fared better on Thursday and behaved exactly as we had expected," said Mehdi Securities Technical Advisor Athar Muhammad Malik. "It was the recommendation of our house that the market will show buoyancy in first half of the session while pressure could surface in last hour of trading, and we witnessed it happened exactly." It was expected to undergo pressure at 13,620 mark and it really happened, he added.
He said as far as Friday's trading was concerned, the market was likely to remain under pressure for first half of the session while it could rebound before start of the second half.
Moreover the Supreme Court could announce judgement on the petitions filed against the PCO and imposition of emergency on Friday, and if the verdict came in favour of the President, it would give further boost to market sentiment. "I foresee a bullish sentiment in the market in next few sessions and it could touch 14,300 point mark during this period," Athar Malik said.
The advancing stocks outnumbered the losers by 34 to 30 with 52 remaining unchanged, of a total 116. Prominent among gainers were Adamjee Insurance with Rs 17.05, PSO Rs 6.65, ICI Rs 6.00, Engro Chemical Rs 5.10 and Habib Bank Rs 3.00. In negative column, Pak Suzuki Motors Co declined by Rs 4.40, JOVC Rs 4.25, PPL Rs 3.30, UBL Rs 2.10 and Callmate Telips Telecom Rs 1.50. JOVC and Arif Habib Securities led the volume leaders with 3.420 million and 3.111 million shares.