Bullish sentiments dominated on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Monday and the equities registered gains amid improved trading turnover due to the investors' interest in select blue chips. The LSE-25 index gained 13.32 points and was closed at 2895.08 against 2881.76 of last Friday while transaction volume was marginally increased to 967,045 shares compared with previous volume of 650,980 shares.
The market was opened on a healthy note and stayed in positive zone almost throughout the day. However, sentiments could not remain intact, as investors preferred profit taking ahead of closing of trading. Buying in PSO, OGDC, PPL, National Bank, Habib Bank, MCB Bank, Askari Bank, Kot Addu Power, Lotte Pakistan PTA, Nishat Mills and Kot Addu Power helped market improvement.
The fertiliser sector remained dressed, as Engro Corporation, Fauji Fertiliser, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim and Fatima Fertiliser remained under selling pressure. Similarly, Attock Refinery, Nishat Chunian, Sui Southern, Bank Alfalah and PTCL also could not resist pressure. The gainers were just ahead of the losers, as out of a total of 96 active issues, 17 companies registered gains, 15 showed losses while 64 companies stayed unchanged at their last week closing.
PSO gained Rs 3.58, OGDC was improved by Rs 1.76 while National Bank and Habib Bank were up by 96-paisa and 62-paisa respectively. Engro Corporation lost Rs 4.60, Attock Refinery was declined by Rs 2.19, while Pakistan Oil Fields and Fauji Fertiliser were depreciated by Rs 1.17 and Rs 1.11 respectively.