Bearish sentiments continued for the second consecutive day on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and the equities registered further losses amid descending trading turnover.
The LSE-25 index lost 19.63 points and was ended at 3392.58 points against 3412.21 points of Thursday, while transaction volume further reduced to 4.819 million shares, as compared to 6.112 million shares traded a day earlier.
The market opened on a depressed note and stayed in negative column during the first trading session. The market did not witness any recovery during the second session rather it kept on declining throughout the second session. The investors offloaded their holdings to secure their positions.
As a result, Pak Oil Fields, PSO, Attock Refinery, Byco Petroleum, Mari Gas and Kot Addu Power of the oil and energy sector remained under pressure. Besides, Lucky Cement, D.G. Khan Cement, Arif Habib Securities, Bank of Punjab, National Bank, United Bank, Habib Bank, and MCB Bank also suffered losses.
However, Adamjee Insurance, Nishat Power, Bank Al-Habib, and Lotte Pakistan resisted pressure and managed their closure in positive zone.
The losers were more than the gainers, as of 125 active issues, 14 companies posted gains, 38 landed in negative column, while values of 73 companies remained unchanged at their previous levels.
Service Industries gained Rs 9.33, Noon Pakistan was improved by Rs 1.01, while Punjab Modaraba was up by Re 1.00. However, Mari Gas lost Rs 4.65, Pak Oil Fields was declined by Rs 3.91, PSO was depreciated by Rs 3.30, while Lucky Cement and MCB Bank were down by Rs 2.60 and Rs 1.89, respectively.
Lotte Pakistan PTA was the market leader whose 2.053 million shares changed hands.