LSE rangebound

Mixed trend prevailed on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Tuesday where equities moved in a narrow range but the cement sector significantly contributed to market close in green zone.
The LSE-25 index improved by 8.32 points, closing at 4786.11 points against 4777.79 points of Monday while transaction volume increased to 52.287 million shares as compared to 40.923 million shares traded a day earlier. Lucky Cement and Maple Leaf Cement from the cement sector, NIB Bank, Bank Alfalah and National Bank from the banking sector, provided support to the market while DG Khan Cement, PSO, Pak Oil Field, Attock Refinery remained depressed.
The market opened on a healthy note but could not sustain due to selling pressure in NIB Bank and its right share. NIB Bank has been facing lower cap for the last two consecutive trading sessions. Likewise, it had to face the lower cap again but later buying helped it improve its position. After fresh buying, the situation totally changed as it faced upper cap during the day's trading. Moreover, Lucky Cement also witnessed upper cap which should investors' interest.
The investors seem to be interested in the low price shares due to which movement in ready board was seen, said Mirza Muhammad Irfan of Capital Vision Securities while commenting on the market sentiments. Maple Leaf also remained attractive among investors which put it to face upper cap as well, he added.
The market is in overbought position and the investors are awaiting correction. They are expecting a fall of 500-600 points but the foreign buying prevented a sharp plunge. This is also evident from the increasing level of SCRA which is touching one billion dollar and a main source of encouragement for the investors, he maintained.
The cement sector is playing an important role in strengthening the market in anticipation of increase in the cement consumption. As a result, the low price shares like Maple Leaf Cement has become attractive for fresh buying, he added.
Declining stocks were ahead of advancing ones as out of a total of 131 active issues, 18 companies registered gains, 44 went down while 69 stayed glued to their previous level.
Among the gainers, Javed Omer Vohra and Co improved by Rs 5.95, ICI Pak gained Rs 3.95, Lucky Cement appreciated by Rs 2.80 while NIB Bank and Engro Chemical were up by Rs 2 each.
In the minus column, United Bank lost Rs 4.95, PSO declined by Rs 2.90, Allied Bank depreciated by Rs 2.30, while Adamjee Insurance and Attock Refinery were down by Rs 2.20 and Rs 1.70 respectively. Lucky Cement was the market leader whose 5.904 million share changed hands followed by Bank Alfalah with total transaction of 4.652 million shares.