Bullish sentiments dominated on the Lahore Stock Exchange on Friday and the equities registered gains across the board amid increased trading turnover due to fresh entries in bluechips and ready board shares. The LSE-25 index gained 58.57 points and was ended at 3640.86 against 3582.29 of Thursday while transaction volume was improved to 1.807 million shares compared with 888,061 shares traded a day earlier.
The market was opened on a healthy sign and kept on moving in green zone following investors' interest who stayed on buying course throughout the day. As a result, the banking sector's shares like MCB Bank, Habib Bank, National Bank, Bank Alfalah and cement companies including Lucky Cement, D G Khan Cement, Cherat Cement, Lafarge Pakistan Cement, Dewan Cement and Fauji Cement posted gains, while Engro foods, Adamjee Insurance, PPL, Fatima Fertiliser and PTCL also performed well. However, Dawood Hercules Corporation, Askari Bank and NIB Bank were ended with marginal declines.
The gainers were far ahead of the losers, as out of a total of 96 active issues, 32 companies registered gains, three stayed in minus column while 61 companies stayed glued to their previous closing. MCB Bank gained Rs 3.66, Engro Foods was appreciated by Rs 3.01, Lucky Cement was improved by Rs 1.58 while Adamjee Insurance and D G Khan Cement were up by Rs 1.05 and Rs 1.01 respectively. Dawood Hercules Corporation lost 50-paisa while Askari Bank was declined by 19-paisa. Lafarge Pakistan Cement topped the volume leaders with 595,419 shares followed by 259,477 shares.