Oil and energy sector led the equities upward amid bullish sentiments dominated on the Lahore Stock Exchange on Monday. The LSE-25 index gained 27.71 points to close at 4319.64 against 4291.93 of last Friday, while transaction volume was restricted to 10.209 million shares compared with previous volume of 10.986 million shares.
The market was opened on a healthy sign and kept on rising throughout the day. The investors stayed on buying course and made entries in oil and energy sector shares. As a result, PSO, OGDC, PPL Nishat Power, Pakgen Power, Southern Electric Power and Japan Power registered gains while MCB Bank, Pioneer Cement, Lafarge Pakistan Cement, Maple Leaf Cement, Fauji Cement, Nishat Chunian, Nishat Mills, Pak Elektron and Dewan Salman Fibre also performed well.
However, Saritow Spinning Mills, Arif Habib Corporation, Pervez Ahmed Securities, Fatima Fertiliser, Engro Corporation, Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim, and Bank of Punjab remained under pressure. The gainers were more than the losers, as out of a total of 107 active issues, 43 companies posted gains, 16 stayed in negative zone, while 48 companies remained unchanged at their previous closing.
PSO was improved by Rs 12.2, OGDC gained Rs 10.5, PPL was appreciated by Rs 9.2, while MCB Bank and Nishat Mills were up by Rs 2 and Rs 1.55, respectively. In the minus column, Saritow Spinning Mills lost 36-paisa, Arif Habib Corporation shed 25-paisa, while Pervez Ahmed Securities and Fatima Fertiliser were down by 21-paisa and 13-paisa, respectively. Lafarge Pakistan Cement with trading of 2.264 million shares topped the volume leaders followed by Bank of Punjab with 2.098 million shares.