Bullish sentiments dominated on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Thursday where equities registered gains amid decreased trading turnover because of the investors' conscious approach. The LSE-25 index gained 16.15 points and was closed at 3090.62 against 3074.47 of Wednesday, while transaction volume restricted to 2.026 million shares, as compared to 2.581 million shares traded a day earlier.
The market opened on a healthy sign and showed vertical rise to gain above 50 points on commencement of trading. Attock Refinery, OGDC, PPL, Byco Petroleum, United Bank, Hub Power, Adamjee Insurance and NetSol Technologies helped market stay in green zone.
Later the market stayed range-bound and moved within the range of 10 points. However, just ahead of closing of trading, the rising trend could not continue, as the investors started profit taking to get out of the market at available margin. As a result, Engro Corporation, PSO, Pak Oil Fields, MCB Bank, Habib Bank, National Bank, Bank Al-Habib, Southern Electric Power, Kot Addu Power and Sui Southern remained under pressure. Despite the selling pressure, the market managed its closure on positive note, which reflects market potential in near future.
Among gainers, Millat Tractors gained Rs 3.20, Attock Refinery was improved by Rs 2.30, OGDC was appreciated by Rs 1.55, while United Bank and NetSol Technologies were up by 79-paisa and 75-paisa, respectively. In the negative column, Engro Corporation was declined by Rs 2.25, PSO lost Rs 2.00, while Pak Oil Fields was down by Rs 1.88. Byco Petroleum was the market leader whose 254,900 shares changed hands followed by Lotte Pakistan PTA with 251,552 shares.