The market opened at previous day's closing levels and subsequently maintained the upward tendency till end of the first session. "We were expecting an increased buying activity in the post-prayer session but the market showed depressed sentiments following the news of disturbance in NA speaker's chamber on the issue of production order of Javed Hashmi of PML-N," said a broker. The news aired by a private TV channel triggered pressure in the market forcing the index to end with a reduced gain, he added.
However, he pointed out that the sentiment remained bullish which indicates the market might continue the trend on Monday. ICI and Prime Commercial Bank topped gainers' list while Pakistan Industrial Credit and Genertech Pakistan were the major victims which suffered losses.
According to brokers, a technical correction was observed in PPL and Bank of Punjab, performing very well during the previous day on account of their good results.
The market continued with last day's rally, helped by the higher earnings reported by PPL and Bank of Punjab with good buying in the first session of trading, said Aamir Baloch from Invest & Finance Securities Ltd.
But the news coming from Islamabad regarding walk out staged by the opposition depressed the sentiments, he added. The news telecast by private TV channels raised concerns for further disturbance in the course of assembly proceedings, he pointed out.
In the first session, the index went up by 29 points but started declining as soon as negative news from Islamabad landed in the market. He, however, pointed out that there was no panic in the market and the index ended with a positive note.
According to him, cement banks and fibre sectors remained in focus while key chips failed to have any significant impact on the market.
About the coming session, he said if the process of voting for election of Aziz was completed smoothly and without any disturbance in the National Assembly, the market might stage a rally Monday, to greet Aziz on taking over as new premier of the country.
In all, 97 scrips were traded of which 18 closed in positive zone, 27 landed in the negative column while 52 were unchanged.
Among major gainers, ICI Pakistan improved by Rs 5.55, Prime Commercial Bank Rs 1.45, Engro Chemical Rs 1.40, Nishat Mills Rs 1.10, and Askari Commercial Bank Rs 0.85. In the minus column, Pakistan Industrial Credit lost Rs 3.25, Genertech Pakistan Rs 1.30, Adamjee Insurance Rs 1.25 while Bank of Punjab and Union Bank Rs 1.05 and Rs 0.90, respectively.