A bullish sentiment dominated on the Lahore Stock Exchange on Friday and the equities posted gains amid marginally decreased trading turnover because of the investors' cautious approach ahead of weekend. The LSE-25 index gained 7.43 points and was ended at 3942.73 against 3935.30 of Thursday while transaction volume was squeezed to 2.984 million shares as compared to last day volume of 4.065 million shares.
The market was opened on a healthy sing and stayed in positive during both the trading sessions. The oil sector's companies like Pakistan Oil Fields, PSO, PPL and some other bluechips like United Bank, Packages Limited, Engro Foods, Nishat Mills, Nishat Chunian, Fatima Fertilizer supported the market sentiments. Fauji Cement, Dewan Cement and Maple Leaf Cement also attracted the investors.
However, profit taking was also seen in Sui Northern, Attock Refinery, NetSol Technologies, Dawood Hercules Corporation, Askari Bank, KESC, Pervez Ahmed Securities and PIAC. The gainers were more than the losers, as out of a total of 106 active companies, 27 remained strong, 16 shed their worth while 63 were changed at their previous closing.
Pakistan Oil Fields gained Rs 3.40, PSO was improved by Rs 2.55, United Bank appreciated Rs 2.00 while PPL and Packages Limited were up by Rs 1.89 and Rs 1.38, respectively. Sui Northern lost 63-paisa, D.G. Khan Cement was declined by 49-paisa while NetSol Technologies and Dawood Hercules Corporation shed 47-paisa and 40-paisa, respectively. Fauji Cement with trading of 1.930 million shares topped the volume leaders followed by Dewan Cement with 364,500 shares.