Equities move both ways on LSE

Equities on Tuesday moved both ways on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and finally stayed in negative zone amid decreased trading turnover on account of lacking interest on the part of investors. The LSE-25 index lost 35.96 points and was closed at 3953.47 against 3989.43 of Monday, while transaction volume was squeezed to 9.569 million shares, as compared to 12.328 million shares traded a day earlier.
The market opened on a positive sign but could not sustain because of selling pressure, as the investors started offloading of their holdings to pocket the available margin. Simultaneously, the market witnessed up and downward move because of the investors' approach who opted profit taking. However, they also made buying in selective shares on dips.
Because of buying interest, Fauji Fertilizer, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, Fatima Fertilizer of the fertilizer sector helped the market sentiments. PPL, Attock Refinery, OGDC, Sui Southern and Sui Northern from the oil and energy sector and Bank Alfalah, and Summit Bank also performed well. On the contrary, PSO, Pak Oil Fields, MCB Bank, Habib Bank, Bank of Punjab, Maple Leaf Cement, D.G. Khan Cement, Lucky Cement, and Lafarge Pakistan Cement suffered losses, while Admajee Insurance, Pakistan Reinsurance, Byco Petroleum, Arif Habib Corporation and Engro Corporation also remained under pressure.
The losers were more than the gainers, as out of a total of 119 active issues, 23 companies posted gains, 41 landed in negative column, while values of 55 companies remained unchanged at their previous levels. Fauji Fertilizer gained Rs 5.39, PPL was improved by Rs 1.37, while Sui Southern and Sui Northern were appreciated by Rs 1.10 and Rs 1.05, respectively.
PSO lost Rs 4.70, MCB Bank was declined by Rs 4.44, Pakistan Oil Fields was depreciated by Rs 4.33, while Engro Corporation and Adamjee Insurance were down by 3.00 and Rs 1.91, respectively. Lotte Pakistan PTA with trading of 1.511 million shares topped the volume leaders followed by Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim with 1.429 million shares.