Bearish sentiments dominated on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) and the equities registered declines across the board on account of selling pressure in blue chips companies ahead of weekend. The LSE-25 index lost 60.71 points and was ended at 3534.79 points against 3595.50 points of Thursday, while transaction volume was squeezed to 4.326 million shares, as compared to 4.759 million shares traded a day earlier.
The market opened on a mixed note and stayed in green zone during early trading hours. However, just before the closing of first trading session, the market started declining and similar trend also continued in the second session. The market did not find any support at any level, as the investors preferred offloading of their holdings to get out of the market to secure their positions.
As a result, most of the blue chips companies including PPL, PSO, OGDC, Attock Refinery, Pakistan Oil Fields, Millat Tractors, Lucky Cement, Fauji Fertiliser, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, Fatima Fertiliser, MCB Bank, National Bank, Arif Habib Corporation, and Nishat Mills suffered losses and ended in negative column.
However, Nishat Chunian, Bank Alfalah, Lotte Pakistan, D.G. Khan Cement, and WorldCall Telecom showed marginal gains and ended on positive note. The declining stocks were far ahead of advancing ones. As many as 10 companies, out of a total of 96, posted gains, 43 registered losses, while 43 companies stayed glued to their previous levels.
Among gainers, Century Paper and Board was improved by Re 1, Flying Cement gained 98-paisa, while Nishat Chunian and Samba Bank were up by 49-paisa and 40-paisa, respectively. In the minus column, Millat Tractors lost Rs 7.00, PPL was declined by Rs 6.14, Packages Limited was depreciated by Rs 5.00, while PSO and OGDC were depreciated by Rs 4.95 and Rs 4.63, respectively. Lotte Pakistan PTA continued to be the market leader with trading of 2.137 million shares followed by National Bank with 529,450 shares.