Mixed trend was observed on Lahore Stock Exchange on Tuesday and the equities kept on moving up and down in a narrow range on account of lack of interest on the part of investors who were eyeing the outcome of the President Zardari's visit to the USA. The LSE-25 index gained 18.19 points to close at 2068.05 against 2049.86 of Monday while transaction volume reduced to 13.389 million shares as compared to 15.201 million shares traded a day earlier.
Attock Refinery, PPL, OGDC, Sui Northern gas and Sui Southern of the oil and energy sector performed well, while MCB Bank, Royal Bank and Fauji Fertiliser also provided support to the market. However, Engro Chemical, PSO, Adamjee Insurance, Javed Omer Vohra and Co and Pak Oilfields remained under pressure and closed in negative zone. The market opened on a negative note and kept moving up and down throughout the day.
The investors were reluctant to take long-term positions and remained busy in intra-day trading to avert any loss. Losers were ahead of gainers as out of 112 active issues, 28 companies showed strength, 37 stayed in red zone, while values of 47 companies closed at their previous levels. Among gainers, Attock Refinery improved by Rs 5.10, PPL posted a gain of Rs 2.60, MCB Bank appreciated by Rs 1.79 while Royal Bank and OGDC were up by Rs 1.37 and Rs 1.30 respectively.
In the minus column, ICI Pak lost Rs 2.79, Engro Chemical declined by Rs 2.65 and PSO and Adamjee Insurance were down by Rs 2.13 and Rs 1.81 respectively. Bank Alfalah with trading of 1.879 million shares topped the volume leaders while Bosicor Pakistan with 1.765 million shares stayed as runner-up.