Bearish sentiments continued on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Friday and the equities registered losses amid selling pressure in most of the blue chips. The LSE-25 index was ended at 2999.48 points against 3058.01 points of Thursday, denoting a decline of 58.53 points, while transaction volume was marginally reduced to 1.126 million shares, as compared to 1.134 million shares traded a day earlier.
The market was opened on a depressed note and kept on staying in negative zone during the both trading sessions. The market did not find any support at any level, as investors preferred getting out of the market to secure their positions ahead of weekend.PSO, Pioneer Cement, PTCL, Bank Alfalah, Javed Omer Vohra and Co and NIB Bank resisted selling pressure and showed marginal gains.
However, Fauji Fertiliser, Engro Corporation, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, Fatima Fertiliser, Attock Refinery, Pakistan Oil Fields, MCB Bank, National Bank, Nishat Mills, Arif Habib Corporation, Pakistan Reinsurance and NetSol Technologies remained under pressure. The losers were considerably more than the gainers, as out of a total of 100 active issues, 6 companies showed strength, 20 went down, while 74 companies stayed glued to their previous levels.
Among gainers, PSO was improved by Rs 2.80, Pioneer Cement gained 30-paisa, while PTCL was up by 28-paisa. In the minus column, Fauji Fertiliser lost Rs 3.74, Engro Corporation was declined by Rs 3.63, Attock Refinery was depreciated by Rs 2.24, while Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim and Pakistan Oil Fields were down by Rs 2.10 and Rs 2.00, respectively. Fauji Fertiliser was the market leader whose 312,573 shares changed hands followed by Bank of Punjab with trading of 180,315 shares.