Equities moved both ways on the Lahore Stock Exchange on Wednesday and finally settled in negative zone amid decreased trading turnover. The LSE-25 index was declined by 92.33 points to close at 6519.72 against 6612.05 of Tuesday while transaction volume was squeezed to 1.444 million shares compared with day earlier volume of 2.243 million shares.
The market was opened on a mixed note and remained range-bound during early trading hours. Later, the market was declined following selling pressure in Nishat Chunian, Sui Northern, Dewan Farooq Motors, Maple Leaf Cement, Cherat Cement, Fauji Cement, Bank Alfalah, PICICI Growth, K-Electric and Adamjee Insurance. However, the market witnessed sharp recovery because of last hours' buying, as investors made entries in Fauji Fertilizer, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, United Bank, PSO, PPL, OGDC, Nishat Mills, Pioneer Cement and Honda Atlas Cars.
The declining stocks were ahead of the advancing ones, as out of a total of 105 active issues, 15 companies posted gains, 20 registered declines while 70 companies stayed glued to their last day closing. Fauji Fertilizer gained Rs 5.90, United Bank was improved by Rs 5.74, PSO was appreciated by Rs 3.00 while Pioneer Cement and Honda Atlas Cars were up by Rs 2.65 and Rs 2.65, respectively.
Nishat Chunian lost Rs 2.20, Sui Northern was declined by Rs 1.49, while Dewan Farooq Motors and Maple Leaf Cement were down by 87-paisa and 86-paisa, respectively. Bank of Punjab with trading of 297,000 shares topped the volume leaders followed by Byco Petroleum with 288,000 shares.