Equities moved both ways on the Lahore Stock Exchange and finally settled in red zone amid a descending transaction volume because of lack of interest on the part of institutions and small investors on Tuesday.
The LSE-25 index declined by 41.80 points, closing at 4667.75 against 4709.55 of Monday while trading turnover squeezed to 17.332 million shares as compared to 25.303 million shares traded a day earlier. The Bank of Punjab (BoP), Javed Omer Vohra & Co, MCB Bank, and Adamjee Insurance helped the market resist more declines while Attock Refinery, Pak Oil Fields, PSO, PPL and Nation Bank remained under pressure.
The market opened on a healthy note but could not sustain due to offloading by the foreign funds which discouraged the local investors to stay away from the buying course. During Tuesday's trading, the market kept moving in red and green zone but was dragged into the negative column during last trading hour. The oil sector, because of declining trend in the international oil prices, is attributed to the pressure, said Syed Muhammad Ishaq of the Abbasi & Company while commenting on the market sentiments.
Whenever the market shows upward rally, the foreign investors do not miss the chance of offloading their holdings to secure their positions. As a result, special convertible rupee account (SCRA) has been declined to negative 57.75 million dollars, which indicated the lack of interest on the part of foreign investors, he added.
As soon as the market started trading, a selling pressure was seen for which experts said the absence of the top leadership of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) on the occasion of the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani at the Presidency was the main reason for bearish trend. They believed that the decision of Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif for not attending the oath-taking ceremony would lead confrontation between the parliament and the Presidency, Ishaq added.
He said the June-ending shares, including the fertiliser, securities companies, and the oil sector could be attractive for the medium-term investment. However, the investors should take a chance of buying on dip and adopt "sell on strength" policy to avoid any loss.
Declining stocks were ahead of advancing ones as out of a total of 106 active issues, 11 companies registered gain, 48 went down while 47 stayed glued to their previous levels.
Among the gainers, Javed Omer Vohra & Company improved by Rs 5.35, Fauji Fertiliser Company gained Rs 4.60, MCB Bank appreciated by Rs 4.30 while ICI Pakistan and Honda Atlas Cars were up by Rs 4.10 and Rs 2.05.
In the minus column, Habib Metropolitan Bank declined by Rs 11.90, Attock Refinery lost Rs 7.85, Pak Oil Field depreciated by Rs 5.65, while First Capital Equities and PSO were down by Rs 4.70 and Rs 4.55 respectively. The Bank of Punjab was the market leader whose 2.240 million shares changed hands followed by DG Khan Cement with total transaction of 1.815 million shares.