Bearish sentiment dominated at Lahore Stock Exchange on Monday where equities registered declines amid decreased trading turnover because of lack of interest on the part of investors. The LSE-25 index was plunged 42.50 points to 3161.71 points against 3204.21 points of last Friday, while volume was restricted to 1.797 million shares as compared to previous 2.030 million shares.
The market opened on a depressed note and stayed in negative zone throughout the day. There was sharp decline during early hours of trading. Later, it remained range-bound and moved within a limit of three-four points, depicting lack of interest on the part of market players.
Most of the blue chips including Engro Corp, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, Attock Refinery, PPL, Habib Bank, MCB Bank, Lucky Cement, D G Khan Cement, DG Khan Cement (R), Lafarge Pakistan Cement, Nishat Chunian, Arif Habib Corp, Millat Tractors, Lotte Pakistan PTA and Dewan Salman Fibre remained under pressure and ended in minus column. However, OGDC, PSO, Fauji Fert and Byco Petroleum resisted pressure and closed with marginal gains.
The declining stocks were ahead of advancing ones, as out of 114 active issues, 8 companies posted gains and 43 landed in minus column, while 63 companies stayed glued to their previous closing levels. Among gainers, Flying Cement improved by Rs 1.00 and OGDC appreciated by 90 paisa, while Punjab Modaraba Ist and Fauji Fertiliser were up by 59 paisa and 36 paisa respectively.
In the minus column, Engro Corp lost Rs 3.47, Attock Refinery declined by Rs 1.95, Habib Bank depreciated by Rs 1.90 while PPL and Lucky Cement were down by Rs 1.65 and Rs 1.25 respectively. Lotte Pakistan PTA with trading of 316,639 shares topped the volume leaders, followed by Lafarge Pakistan Cement with 266,255 shares.