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LSE: bears overcome bulls

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Equities on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) failed to maintain the overnight rally on Tuesday following a technical correction and the news of a bomb explosion in Karachi on Monday.

The LSE 101-share index was down by 2.35 points to close at 406.51 points against 408.86 points a day earlier. The volume amounted to 93.239 million shares as compared to 219.913 million shares of the previous day, showing a fall of 126.674 million shares.

Following the news of the bomb blast in Karachi on Monday, the market opened on a depressed note. However, subsequently it kept on fluctuating between buying and selling orders and finally closed on a weak note.

Significant activity was seen again in the volume leader PTCL, though it was moving in the negative column when the closing bell rang. It fluctuated between the range of Rs 27.25 and Rs 29.10 to close at Rs 28.00. As the scrip had showed an extraordinary movement on Monday, therefore, a technical correction was expected on Tuesday said market analysts.

PSO and MCB also fared better than Monday improving their worth and finished on a healthy note. Engro Chemical and Adamjee Insurance showed weak signs and ended on a negative note.

As the market was in a highly overbought position, therefore, largely because of the profit-taking angle it showed bearish signs today. However, the sentiments were still bullish and the market could take an upturn any time during the week, said Aun Abbas Kazmi of Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari and Company. The PTCL once again continued attracting investors, he added. However, it kept on fluctuating throughout the trading sessions to finally end on a depressed note, he stated.

Imran Butt of Trust Securities attributed technical correction to day's downward movement, but added that the market was still in a consolidated phase. There was also a rumour in the market that the government was going to withdraw all cases against Hubco, which had a positive impact on the fuel and energy sector and their scrips showed bullishness, he added.

In the near future the market was likely to witness another bullish spell, Imran Butt stated.

Out of a total of 144 scrips exchanged hands, 24 improved their worth, 42 landed in the negative column, while 78 stayed pegged to their overnight levels.

BOC was among the major gainers improving its value by Rs 10, PSO was up by Rs 4.25, MCB Rs 2.65, Millat Tractors Rs 2, Crescent Investment Bank Rs 1.40, and Pak Suzuki gained Rs 1.25.

On the other hand, Engro Chemical dipped by Rs 1.65, Adamjee Insurance lost its worth by Rs 1.50, Crescent Textile Mills Re 1 and 22nd ICP Mutual Fund was down by Re 0.70.