Bullish sentiment was observed on Lahore Stock Exchange on Monday and the equities moved upward amid improved trading turnover following investors' interest in oil and banking sector shares. The LSE index jumped to 2738.87 points against 2657.26 points of last Friday, denoting an improvement of 81.61 points, while transaction volume improved to 23.646 million shares as compared to 23.607 million shares.
The market opened on a mixed note and kept on moving up and down during first couple of hours' trading. The index touched the figure of 2717 points but could not sustain because of profit taking, and the index declined to 2680 points where it received strong buying support to close above 2738 points.
According to analysts, the oil sector showed strength following fresh buying in anticipation of handsome increase in oil prices from September 1. As a result, the OGDC witnessed upper cap while other oil companies, including PSO, performed well, said Muhammad Ishaq of Abbasi and Company.
Nishat Mills was also reported to go for buying MCB Bank's shares worth Rs 1.8 billion, that pushed the MCB Bank by over Rs 8. National Bank (NBP) , because of its half-year financial results showing Rs 5.87 earning per share, also led the banking companies up. Though the bank showed profit, but it was lower than corresponding period of last year, he said.
Gainers were more than losers, as out of a total of 113 active issues, 41 companies registered gains, 23 went down, while values of 49 companies remained unchanged at their previous levels. MCB Bank improved by Rs 8.04, OGDC appreciated by Rs 4.56 while ICI Pak, PSO and National Bank were up by Rs 2.50, Rs 2.39 and Rs 2.25 respectively. On the contrary, Mari Gas lost Rs 3.28, EFU General Insurance declined by Rs 3.12, while Lucky Cement and Nishat Mills were down by Rs 2.83 and Rs 2.31 respectively. Pakistan PTA with trading of 7.137 million shares topped the volume leaders.
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