The LSE-25 index declined by 53.08 points and closed at 3975.40 against 4028.48 of Monday, while trading turnover increased to 68.181 million shares as compared to 55.547 million shares traded a day earlier. Only PSO, Maple Leaf Cement and Lucky Cement could resist sharp declines while National Bank, Pak Oil Fields, Bank of Punjab, Askari Commercial Bank, Engro Chemical, PPL, Fauji Fertiliser, Faysal bank, ICI Pak, and OGDC remained under pressure and closed in negative column.
The market opened on a depressed note and stayed in negative zone throughout the day due to lacking buying support. Etisalat has to pay its next instalment on 28th October for PTCL. As this date is approaching fast, the investors started apprehending with doubts in their mind that Etisalat perhaps would be able to pay the amount or would get extension. Such apprehensions scared the investors, said Ahmad Nabeel of Invest and Finance Securities while commenting on the market sentiments.
It was the only cement sector which could resist downfall and remained in positive zone while among other banking sector shares, the Bank of Punjab faced lower cap during the day's trading due to its earning of Rs 3.25 against the investors expectation of Rs 5 per share, he maintained.
Among the oil sector, PSO outperformed due to the rumours of extra ordinary earning per share of Rs 15-16 in just 1st quarter, he added. However, market is weak and one should trade carefully, once it breaks 8225 mark. He said that sell on strength policy should be adopted to avoid more losses. Only PTCL and Etisalat deal may provide some relief to the market, he maintained.
Declining stocks were ahead of advancing ones as out of a total of 72 active issues, 6 companies improved its values, 32 went down, while 34 stayed glued to their previous levels.
PSO appreciated Rs 5.75; Maple Leaf Cement gained Rs 0.25, while Lucky Cement improved by Rs 0.20. In the minus column, National Bank lost Rs 9.25, Pak Oil Field declined by Rs 6.00, Bank of Punjab depreciated Rs 5.60, Askari Commercial Bank shed Rs 5.15, while Engro Chemical and PPL were down by Rs 5.00 and Rs 3.90, respectively.
PTCL was the market leader whose 10.894 million shares changed hands followed by Bank of Punjab with total trading 8.039 million shares.