Equities on Thursday registered gains across the board amid bullish sentiments on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) following buying spree in the blue chips on account of reconciliation between the coalition partners in the Sindh government. The LSE-25 index rose to 3048.55 against 2993.81 of Wednesday.
Denoting an increase of 54.74 points whereas transaction volume substantially improved to 26.021 million shares, as compared to 13.741 million that was almost double than that of the last day turnover. The market took start on healthy sign and vertically improved to 3056.
Once during trading, the index touched the day's highest mark of 3065 reflecting the investors' fresh interest in selective scrips including blue chips. Later the market kept on moving up and down but within the range of 17 points. PPL, Pak Oil Fields, PSO, OGDC, Engro Corporation and Fauji Fertiliser of fertiliser sector helped market stay in green zone.
Similarly, Adamjee Insurance, Lucky Cement, Pioneer Cement, Lafarge Pakistan Cement, Maple Leaf Cement, Dewan Cement, Fauji Cement, Bank Alfalah, WorldCall Telecom, Lotte Pakistan PTA also performed well and were ended with gains. However, MCB Bank, Faysal bank, Bank of Punjab, Silk Bank, Samba Bank, Javed Omer and Vohra Byco Petroleum and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim remained under pressure.
The market pundits were of the view that the major stakeholders of the Sindh government ie MQM and the People's Party have agreed to resolve their differences under the reconciliation policy. The target killing and worsening law and order situation in Karachi have upset the sentiments.
Despite the strong fundamentals, the market behaviour was negative and investors were reluctant to take positions. However, the top leaderships of the two political parties resolved to stay away from confrontation and remove differences amicably. This development on the political front helped improve market sentiments and the investors stayed on buying course that not only pushed the index up but also multiplied the share turnover, they added and hoped the market would continue upward slide also in the next week.
The advancing stocks were ahead of declining ones as out of a total of 109 active issues, 63 companies registered gains, 12 went down, while values of 34 companies remained unchanged at there overnight closing. Engro Corporation was improved by Rs 9.64, Mari Gas gained Rs 7.30, PPL posted an improvement of Rs 6.41, while Pak Oil Fields and PSO were up by Rs 3.82 and Rs 3.18, respectively.
However, MCB Bank lost 77-paisa, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim was declined by 31-paisa while Faysal Bank was down by 30-paisa. Lafarge Pakistan Cement was the market leader whose 3.444 million shares changed hands followed by WorldCall Telecom with 2.452 million shares.