Share prices have continued inching up on the second straight day with a focused activity in blue chips, which recorded hefty gains, helping the index to add 0.7 percent further to its strength, on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) here on Wednesday.
The market on Wednesday continued painting a bright picture from start to close of trading and there was also improvement in the volume, indicating continuation of the trend in the upcoming sessions too, brokers said.
The LSE-25 Index finished the session at 4,851.26 points compared with the past closing at 4,817.33 points, posting a net rise of 33.93 points. Volume mounted to 42.289 million shares from 38.428 million, increasing by 3.861 million shares.
Brokers said there was no change in the mood of the market and people kept buying in pivotal in banks and oil and gas sectors. Oil sector pushed higher as crude oil prices rose in the world market, they added. Analysts said that the improving volume was indicative of the fact that the investor, who was on sidelines, was returning, which was encouraging for the market.
MCB Bank and National Bank in the banking sector, and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Pak Oilfields in the oil sector led the gainers and provided key support to the market. On losers end, Shell Gas and United Bank Limited (UBL) appeared as the main victims of selling pressure. The trend is bullish and the market people seem happy over peaceful polling held on February 18, but are a bit worried about transfer of power, analysts said.
If the process of transfer of powers was completed peacefully and a democratic government started functioning smoothly, the market would definitely celebrate this development, an analyst said.
The market maintained its strength on Wednesday, though the tempo was slow as compared to the past day as people awaited the formation of the government in the centre, Pervez Iqbal of Javed Iqbal Securities Ltd said.
He said the winning political parties, particularly the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-N were engaged in process of dialogue with each other and other like-minded groups to form governments, therefore, trading was a bit slow.
However as soon as the government in the centre was formed, the market could pick up momentum, he added. He said that after the process was completed, people would go for new initiatives freely, taking the index to new highs.
He said so far foreign interest in the market was hardly visible, but after the new political set-up came into being, their interest would surly rise in the equity market.
In all, 112 scrips changed hands, of which, 25 were up, 44 landed in negative column, while 43 were intact to their previous levels. Among major gainers, MCB Bank improved by Rs 21.10, PSO by Rs 7.75, National Bank by Rs 4.90, Arif Habib Securities by Rs 3.50 and Adamjee Insurance by rupees three. Leading losers were Shell Gas LPG, losing 14.85, UBL Rs 5.70, Engro Chemical Rs 4.95, Habib Bank Rs 4.20 and Pak Suzuki Motors Rs 4.05. Arif Habib Securities was the volume leader with 4.859 million followed by Bank Alfalah with 4.603 million shares.