Equities maintained upward slide for the second consecutive day amid bullish sentiments on the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) on Wednesday following fresh entries made by the investors in fertiliser and auto sectors' shares. The LSE-25 index was increased by 38.54 points and was closed at 2981.34 points against 2942.80 points of Tuesday, while transaction volume was increased to 1.268 million shares, as compared to last day volume of 1.033 million shares.
While continuing the day earlier sentiments, the market was opened on a healthy note and stayed in positive zone throughout the day. The investors' interest in fertiliser and auto sector shares restricted the market in the bullish zone. As a result, Al-Ghazi Tractors, Millat Tractors, Engro Corporation, Fauji Fertiliser, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim registered visible gains, while OGDC, Pakistan Oil Fields, MCB Bank, Nishat Mills, Pakistan Reinsurance and Lotte Pakistan PTA also performed well.
On the contrary, selling pressure was seen in National Bank, First Capital Securities, Balochistan Glass, Bank of Punjab, Silk Bank and Nimir Industrial Chemical, which were ended in minus zone. The gainers were more than the losers, as out of a total of 100 active issues, 32 companies registered gains, 8 went down, while 60 companies remained unchanged at their overnight closing levels.
Millat Tractors gained Rs 15.82, OGDC was improved by Rs 6.65, Al-Ghazi Tractors was appreciated by Rs 4.96, while PPL and Engro Corporation were up by Rs 4.31 and Rs 3.45, respectively. PSO was declined by Rs 1.60, National Bank lost 41-paisa, while First Capital Securities was down by 24-paisa. Fauji Fertiliser with trading of 182,727 shares topped the volume leaders followed by National Bank with 175,130 shares.