Mixed trend prevailed on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Thursday and the equities after moving up and downward, finally settled in red zone on account of selling pressure that resulted considerable increase in trading turnover. The LSE-25 index marginally declined by 5.21 percent and closed at 2062.44 against 2067.55 of Wednesday while transaction volume increased to 15.737 million shares as compared to day earlier volume of 9.293 million shares.
The market opened on a positive sign and gained 32 points amid up and downward move. Ultimately after staying in green zone during early hours of trading, the market started sliding down and finally closed in minus column. The investors were expecting continuation of bullish sentiments, but profit taking in blue chips including Lucky Cement, Bank of Punjab, MCB Bank, PSO, Attock Refinery, PPL, Pak Oil Fields, Bank Alfalah turned the sentiments into negative.
However, OGDC, D.G Khan Cement, Arif Habib Securities, Fauji Fertiliser, Adamjee Insurance, and National Bank resisted selling pressure and closed in positive zone. The analysts were of the view that the investors are still reluctant in taking even medium term positions and prefer getting out of the market to secure their positions. Since the market started facing uncertainty, the investors are used to pick selective shares during early hours and offload before the closing of trading. The market may face technical correction on daily basis because of the investors' cautious approach, the experts said.
The losers were more than the gainers, as out of a total of 100 companies, 25 showed strength, 38 stayed in negative zone, while 37 companies were closed without any change. ICI was improved by Rs 2.84, OGDC gained Rs 1.60, D.G. Khan Cement appreciated Rs 1.25 while Arif Habib Securities and First IBL Modarba were up by 80-paisa and 75-paisa, respectively.
MCB Bank lost Rs 6.47, PSO was declined by Rs 3.53, Attock Refinery shed Rs 3.30, while PPL and Engro Chemical were down by 3.05 and Rs 2.24, respectively. D.G. Khan Cement was the market leader whose 2.739 million shares changed hands followed by Arif Habib Securities with trading of 2.057 million shares.