Bullish sentiments prevailed on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Friday where equities registered gains amid descending transaction volume due to the investors' conscious approach ahead of weekend. The LSE-25 index was increased by 16.51 points and was ended at 3196.09 points against 3179.58 points of Thursday, while trading turnover was squeezed to 1.803 million shares, as compared to 2.602 million shares traded a day earlier.
The market was opened on mixed note and moved within a narrow range due to lacking interest on the part of investors during the first trading session. However, as soon as the second session commenced, the investors started making fresh entries in Pakistan Oil Fields, PPL and OGDC of oil sector, while Dawood Hercules Chemicals, MCB Bank, Habib Bank, National Bank, Askari Bank, Bank of Punjab, Pakistan Reinsurance, Treet Corporation, Lotte Pakistan PTA also helped market stay in green zone till the closing of trading.
However, investors offloaded their holdings in PSO, Pace Pakistan, Pervez Ahmed Securities, Engro Corporation, Silk Bank and Fauji Cement to secure their positions. The advancing stocks were ahead of declining ones, as out of a total of 116 active issues, 37 companies registered gains, 14 went down, while 65 companies stayed glued to their previous levels. Among gainers, Dawood Hercules Chemical was improved by Rs 3.00, Pakistan Oil Fields gained Rs 2.85, PPL was appreciated by Rs 1.78, while MCB Bank was up by Rs 1.06.
In the minus column, PSO lost Re 1.00, United Bank was declined by 45-paisa, while Pace Pakistan and Pervez Ahmed Securities were down by 23-paisa and 17-paisa, respectively. Lotte Pakistan PTA was the market leader whose 233,800 shares changed hands followed by Fauji Cement with 228,245 shares.