Bullish sentiment dominated the Lahore Stock Exchange on Wednesday and equities registered gains on account of investors' fresh interest in select companies. The LSE-25 index moved up by 43.68 points to 3201.20 points against 3157.52 points of Tuesday, while turnover reduced to 9.427 million shares as compared to 9.759 million shares.
The market took start on positive note and kept rising almost throughout the day. Engro, National Bank, MCB Bank, Bank Alfalah, Lucky Cement, OGDC and Arif Habib Securities helped the market. According to analysts, once the index rose by 100 points, showing fresh entries by local as well as foreign investors. The upward trend continued till midday when profit taking pushed the index down because investors offloaded their holdings to pocket available margins.
Selling pressure was seen in Adamjee Insurance, PPL, Engro Polymer and Chemical, Bank of Punjab, Faysal Bank and Pakistan Reinsurance. Gainers were more than losers, as 41 companies showed strength and stayed in positive column and 28 went down, while values of 42 companies remained unchanged.
Atlas Battery gained Rs 10.27, Engro improved by Rs 6.60, and ICI Pakistan appreciated by Rs 5.80, while Mari Gas and National Bank were up by Rs 4.36 and Rs 3.23 respectively. Service Industries lost Rs 11.80, and Treet Corporation declined by Rs 4.50, while Admajee Insurance and Frontier Ceramics were down by Rs 1.08 and Rs 0.98 respectively. Bank of Punjab, with trading of 1.293 million shares, topped the volume leaders.