Mixed sentiments prevailed on the Lahore Stock Exchange and the equities registered gains under the lead of banking sector amid improved trading turnover. However, the LSE-25 index lost 22.72 points to close at 5389.78 against 5412.50 of Monday while transaction volume was increased to 3.820 million shares compared with day earlier volume of 2.307 million shares.
The market was opened on a healthy note and stayed in green zone for a short period. Later, the market witnessed up and downward moves, as investors adopted "buy on dip and sell on strength" policy to secure their positions. Buying in banking sector shares including Allied Bank, Habib Bank, Bank Al-Habib, MCB Bank and Bank of Punjab helped market avert more declines while Engro Corporation, Engro Fertilizer, PSO, Gul Ahmed Textile Mills, Adamjee Insurance and Atlas Honda also performed well.
However, because of profit taking, United Bank, DG Khan Cement, Maple Leaf Cement, Lafarge Pakistan Cement, NetSol Technologies, Summit Bank, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, Sui Northern, PIA, and Fauji Cement were closed in negative zone. The advancing stocks were ahead of the declining ones, as out of a total of 108 active issues, 32 companies posted gains, 18 suffered declines while 58 companies stayed glued to their last day closing.
Among gainers, Engro Corporation was improved by Rs 9.20, Allied Bank was appreciated by Rs 5.04, Habib Bank gained Rs 2.82, while PSO and Engro Fertilizer were up by Rs 2.50 each. In the minus column, United Bank lost Rs 1.48, DG Khan Cement was declined by Rs 1.04, while Maple Leaf Cement and Lafarge Pakistan Cement were down by 63-paisa and 59-paisa, respectively. The Bank of Punjab was the market leader whose 725,500 shares changed hands followed by Lafarge Pakistan Cement with 600,500 shares.