Mixed sentiment was noticed on Lahore Stock Exchange on Monday and the equities remained under selling pressure on account of profit taking in select shares. The LSE-25 index marginally declined by 1.92 points and closed at 3116.81 points against 3118.73 points of last Friday.
Transaction volume was 1.188 million shares compared with previous volume of 1.303 million shares. The market opened on a healthy sign and stayed in green zone during early trading hours. However, sentiment could not sustain because investors started offloading to pocket available margins. The selling pressure dragged the market into negative zone. Attock Refinery, PSO, Nishat Mills, Nishat Chunian, Engro Corporation, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, Arif Habib Corporation, Sui Northern, D.G. Khan Cement, Faysal Bank and MCB Bank ended in minus column.
However, Lucky Cement, Fauji Fertiliser, Pioneer Cement, National Bank, Habib Sugar, Byco Petroleum, Nimir Industrial Chemical, Wateen Telecom and Bank Alfalah registered marginal gains. Losers were more than the gainers, as of 98 active issues, 13 companies posted gains and 22 closed in minus column, while 63 companies remained unchanged.
Lucky Cement gained Rs 1.05, Fauji Fertiliser improved by 78 paisa, Pioneer Cement was up by 38 paisa and National Bank gained 35 paisa. Attock Refinery lost Rs 1.44, PSO declined by Rs 1.42, Nishat Mills was down 85 paisa and Engro Corporation lost 54 paisa. Wateen Telecom was the market leader whose 129,605 shares changed hands, followed by NIB Bank with 126,878 shares.