Equities move both ways on LSE

Equities on the Lahore Stock Exchange on Monday moved both ways and ended in positive zone amid sluggish trading due to cautious approach of the investors. The LSE-25 index gained 18.05 points, closing at 2909.16 points against 2891.11 points of last Friday, while volume was restricted to 418,870 shares as compared to 593,405 shares.
The market opened on a positive sign but could not sustain and slid down due to lack of buying support. However, last hour buying in select shares, including OGDC, Attock Refinery, Fauji Fertiliser, Engro Corporation, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim and Fatima Fertiliser helped market recovery while MCB Bank, Arif Habib Corporation and PTCL also supported the market sentiment.
On the contrary, Habib Bank, National Bank, Silk Bank, and Bank Alfalah remained under pressure while PPL, Kot Addu Power, Pakistan Reinsurance, Lotte Pakistan PTA, NetSol Technologies and Byco Petroleum ended with marginal declines. Gainers were more than the losers, as out of 92 active issues, 16 companies registered gains and 12 went down, while 64 companies remained unchanged.
OGDC gained Rs 3.85, Fauji Fertiliser improved by Rs 2.23, Engro Corporation gained 66 paisa, and Bank Al-Habib was up by 59 paisa. In the minus column, Habib Bank lost 70 paisa, PPL declined by 60 paisa, Kot Addu Power shed 50 paisa and Pakistan Reinsurance was down by 24 paisa. National Bank with trading of 59,790 shares topped the market leader followed by Bank of Punjab with 50,547 shares.