Bullish sentiments prevailed on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Thursday and the equities staged recoveries following buying in fertiliser, oil and banking sectors' shares, while ready board shares also remained attractive. The LSE-25 index gained 31.84 points and was closed at 2838.45 points against 2806.61 points of Wednesday, while transaction volume was marginally squeezed to 708,663 shares, compared with the day earlier volume of 896,571 shares.
The market was opened on a positive sign and stayed in green zone throughout the day. The investors made fresh entries that helped equities improve their values. National Refinery, Byco Petroleum, Pakistan Oil Fields, Engro Corporation, Fauji Fertiliser, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, Fatima Fertiliser, MCB Bank, National Bank, Bank of Punjab, D.G. Khan Cement, Arif Habib Corporation and Lotte Pakistan witnessed fresh buying. However, Nishat Chunian, Attock Refinery, OGDC and PTCL registered marginal declines on the account of profit taking.
The advancing stocks were more than the declining ones, as out of a total of 91 active issues, 23 companies registered gains, 5 stayed in minus column, while values of 63 companies remained unchanged at their previous closing. National Refinery gained Rs 4.84, Engro Corporation was improved by Rs 4.63, Fauji Fertiliser was appreciated by Rs 1.41, while MCB Bank and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim were up by 82-paisa and 46-paisa, respectively.
First Capital Equities lost Rs 6.04, while Nishat Chunian and Attock Refinery were declined by 18-paissa and 13-paisa, respectively Japan Power with trading of 116,000 shares topped the volume leaders followed by Lotte Pakistan PTA with 110,965 shares.