Equities on Monday moved both ways on the Lahore Stock Exchange and finally stayed in positive zone amid decreased trading turnover due to the investors' cautious approach. The LSE-25 index gained 27.73 points and was closed at 3479.70 against 3451.97 of last Thursday while transaction volume was restricted to 6.182 million shares as compared to previous volume of 9.850 million shares.
The market was opened on a healthy sign and stayed in positive zone during early trading hour. However, sentiments were changed as soon as the investors started offloading of their holdings to secure their positions. Later, the market kept on moving up and down but finally ended on positive note. Habib Bank, Bank of Punjab, Bank Alfalah, NIB Bank and Silk Bank of the banking sector helped market improvement while Engro Foods, Arif Habib Corporation, NetSol Technologies, Cherat Cement, Byco Petroleum, OGDC and Pervez Ahmed Securities also performed well.
However, PPL, MCB Bank, National Bank, Fauji Fertiliser, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, Engro Corporation, Kot Addu Power, Adamjee Insurance, Engro Polymer and Chemical and DS Industries remained under pressure. The gainers were more than the losers. Of 100 active issues, 33 companies posted gains, 17 registered losses while 50 companies were closed at their previous closing.
Among gainers, Habib Bank was improved by Rs 5.10, Engro Foods was appreciated by Rs 2.20, Pak Suzuki gained Rs 1.83 while Arif Habib Corporation was up by Rs 1.47. In the negative column, PPL was declined by Rs 2.02, MCB Bank lost Rs 1.78, Fauji Fertiliser shed Rs 1.30, while Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim was down by Rs 1.02. NIB Bank topped the volume leaders with trading of 1.028 million shares followed by Lafarge Pakistan Cement with 539,153 shares.