Mixed sentiments prevailed on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) where equities moved both the ways and finally ended in negative zone amid decreased trading turnover, due to lacking interest on the part of investors. The LSE-25 index lost 13.13 points to close at 3326.18 against 3339.31 of Wednesday, while transaction volume was squeezed to 3.014 million shares, as compared to previous volume of 4.272 million shares.
The market opened on a depressed note and kept on moving up and down throughout the day. The volatility that continued during the day, kept the investors away from the buying course. Buying in Attock Refinery, PSO, Pakistan Oil Fields, Lucky Cement, Tariq Glass, D.G. Khan Cement, Adamjee Insurance, Pakistan Reinsurance, Bank Alfalah and Nimir Industrial Chemical helped market avert more declines.
However, Pakistan Refinery, OGDC, PPL, MCB Bank, Habib Bank, United Bank, Bank of Punjab, Fauji Fertiliser, Engro Corporation, Kot Addu Power, Lotte Pakistan PTA and Pace Pakistan remained under selling pressure because of profit taking.
The losers were more than the gainers, as out of a total of 110 active issues, 28 companies recorded gains, 32 registered losses, while 50 companies remained unchanged at their previous levels.
Attock Refinery was improved by Rs 1.88, Lucky Cement gained Rs 1.45, Flying Cement was appreciated by 98-paisa, while Tariq Glass and D.G. Khan Cement were up by 91-paisa and 83-paisa, respectively. In the negative column, Pakistan Refinery lost Rs 4.00, Dawood Hercules Chemical was declined by Rs 3.64, OGDC was depreciated by Rs 2.00, while MCB Bank and Habib Bank were down by Rs 1.88 and Rs 1.84, respectively. Lafarge Pakistan Cement with trading of 413,080 shares topped the volume leaders followed by Bank of Punjab with 349,349 shares.