Bearish sentiment prevailed at Lahore Stock Exchange on Friday and equities registered losses amid descending transaction volume on account of lack of interest on the part of investors. The LSE-25 index declined by 10.73 points and closed at 3343.52 points against 3354.25 points of Thursday, while trading turnover decreased to 17.061 million shares as compared to 27.736 million shares traded a day earlier.
The market opened on a depressed note and remained range-bound during first trading session mainly because of the investors' behaviour who avoided taking fresh positions. During second session, the market started melting and slid down as investors preferred offloading to secure their positions on weekend perception.
Attock Refinery, PPL, OGDC, Mari Gas, Engro Corporation, Arif Habib Securities, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, NIB Bank, Silk Bank, and WorldCall Telecom remained under pressure due to profit taking. However, PSO, Pak Oilfields, Adamjee Insurance, National Bank, Lucky Cement, Nishat Mills, and Nishat Chunian resisted decline and ended with gains.
Losers were more than gainers, as out of 116 active issues, 24 companies appreciated their values and 44 posted losses, while values of 48 companies stayed unchanged. PSO improved by Rs 3.62, Pak Oilfields appreciated by Rs 3.53, and Adamjee Insurance gained Rs 1.71, while ICI Pakistan and National Bank were up by Rs 1.70 and Rs 1.52 respectively.
In the minus column, Service Industries lost Rs 12.15, Mari Gas declined by Rs 2.54, and Treet Corporation shed Rs 2.34, while Attock Refinery and Millat Tractors were down by Rs 1.87 and Rs 1.59 respectively. WorldCall Telecom with trading of 3.320 million shares topped the volume leaders, followed by Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim with 2.293 million shares.