The LSE-25 index further improved by 24 points and closed at 4198.06 against 4174.06 of Monday, while transaction volume marginally declined to 84.776 million shares as compared to 86.193 million shares traded a day earlier.
The market, which opened on a positive note, remained in positive zone throughout the day despite ambiguity and doubts regarding the PTCL deal with Etisalat. The market scored good number of points in pre and post-Eid trading session in which the banking sector played vital role in taking the market upward besides generating the bullish rally, said Ahmad Nabeel of Invest and Finance Securities, while commenting on the market sentiments. Though the oil sector remained steady and positive, yet the cement sector also contributed to the index. The market was likely to take correction but bears failed to pressurise the bulls due to visit of Privatisation Commission Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh to UAE to settle the matters regarding the PTCL deal. The investors took the news as positive development, which induced them to make fresh entries. As a result, the PTCL was the highly traded share with upward move, he added.
Moreover, an important development is holding of Saarc summit on 13th of this month during which meeting would also take place between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh. Apart from this, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's visit to Pakistan on November 17 in connection with international donors' conference has created hopes among investors about rehabilitation activities in the earthquake-hit areas. If conference achieves its objectives to generate more funds for the rehabilitation work, the market may take upward surge of 500 points, he maintained.
Declining stocks were just ahead of advancing ones, as out of a total of 80 traded companies, 23 improved its worth, 26 declined, while 31 remained unchanged at overnight closing levels.
PSO and ICI Pak gained Rs 5.00 each, PPL improved by Rs 2.40, while Bank Alfalah and Fauji Fertiliser were up by Rs 2.00 and Rs 1.75, respectively.
Askari Commercial Bank lost Rs 4.25, National Bank declined by Rs 4.00, while MCB Bank and United Bank were down by Rs 2.75 and Rs 2.40, respectively. DG Khan Cement remained on top with transaction of 13.623 million shares followed by PTCL with 10.942 million shares.