Mixed trend prevailed at Lahore Stock Exchange on Wednesday and equities moved both ways and closed lower amid selling pressure on account of profit taking in oil sector stocks. The LSE-25 index marginally improved by 6.45 points to 1717.83 against 1711.38 points of Tuesday, while transaction volume increased from 20.816 million shares to 22.950 million shares.
Oil companies including PPL, Pak Oilfields, and OGDC remained under pressure due to profit taking while banking companies including MCB Bank, Habib Bank, National Bank, and United Bank helped recovery. Fertiliser shares including Engro Chemical and Fauji Fertiliser also remained attractive, while Adamjee Insurance also performed well.
The market opened on a healthy note and registered a gain of over 30 points just in few minutes after the commencement of trading. However, the bullish sentiments could not sustain and market started moving down following profit taking, as most the investors preferred offloading to secure their positions. As a result, the market fell down below 1700 and stayed around 1695 till mid day. During last trading hours, the market showed recovery following fresh buying on dips that helped market closure on positive note. Of 109 companies, 30 registered gains, 36 landed in minus column while 43 stayed glued to their previous levels.
Among gainers, Engro Chemical posted a gain of Rs 5.68, MCB Bank was appreciated by Rs 4.49, Habib Bank was improved by Rs 4.27 while ICI Pak and National Bank were up by Rs 3.43 and Rs 3.11, respectively. In the minus column, Tri-Pack Films lost Rs 5.00, PPL declined by Rs 3.20, Pak Oil Fields shed Rs 2.36, while Packages and PTCL were down by Rs 2.00 and Rs 0.60, respectively. Pakistan PTA 4.608 million shares changed hands, followed by National Bank with 2.662 million shares.