Share prices moved up and registered fresh gains, under the lead of Pakistan Oilfields and Javed Omer Vohra and Co, on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Wednesday, ignoring the Lal Masjid factor. The LSE-25 index ended at 4,883.27 points compared with 4,860.36 of Tuesday, registering a net increase of 22.91 points.
Volume declined to 47.569 million shares from 56.631 million shares, decreasing by 9.062 million shares. The market totally ignored the situation developing in Islamabad after the clash between law-enforcement agencies and Lal Masjid students, and fared well with some of the scrips performing outstandingly. According to an analyst, the market was technically bound to undergo correction and the big players took the advantage of the Islamabad situation.
"Even if we review past day's trading, declines were minimal as compared to intensity of the Islamabad situation," he added. On Wednesday Pakistan Oilfields dominated the trading followed by JOVC while MCB while banks stayed in minus column.
Supported by the overall growth of economy, the market is standing on very strong footing, thus it totally ignored the Islamabad incident on Wednesday, said Javed Iqbal, chief executive, Javed Iqbal Securities Ltd. Profit-taking took place at mid-day, but the market well resisted the pressure and recovered soon, he added.
So far, the market has been able to absorb all political crises, including the issue of CJP because of its strong fundamentals, therefore, it is unlikely to face any trouble in the coming sessions, he observed.
Increasing foreign investment is also a major supporting factor and implies investors' trust in government's economic policies, he pointed out. Out of a total of 134 traded scrips, 47 were up, 19 landed in negative column, and 68 stayed put.
Among major gainers, Pakistan Oilfields gained Rs 14.00, Javed Omer Vohra and Co Rs 11.10, PPL Rs 3.85, Standard Chartered Bank Rs 3.55, and DG Khan Cement Rs 2.40. In red zone, MCB Bank shed Rs 3.50, UBL Rs 3.20, Faysal Bank Rs 1.50, PSO Re 1.00 and Engro Chemical 65 paisa. Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qazim and Fauji Cement led the market by volume, with 5.197 million and 5.103 million shares, respectively.
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