Shares on the Lahore Stock Exchange on Thursday gained amid sluggish trading. The LSE-25 index, however, declined by 1.98 points to 5,374.44 against 5,376.42 of Wednesday while the transaction volume squeezed to 1.743 million shares as compared with the previous volume of 3.809 million.
The market stayed in green zone throughout the day as investors made entries in select shares such as the Mari Petroleum, First Capital Equities, Singer Pakistan, Treet Corporation, Sui Southern, Sui Northern, Fauji Cement, Dewan Farooq Motors, Engro Polymer and Chemical and Southern Electric Power. Some did succumb to profit-taking and stayed in negative zone. They were the ICI Pakistan, Engro Corporation, United Bank, Bank of Punjab, Byco Petroleum, Lotte Chemical Pakistan, Dsecon Chemicals and PIA.
Out of 79 companies, 14 gained and seven lost, while 58 others remained unchanged. The Mari Petroleum gained Rs 24.00 and the First Capital Equities improved by Rs 1.31, while the Singer Pakistan and the Treet Corporation were up by Rs 1.09 and Re 1.00, respectively. The ICI Pakistan lost Rs 21.72 and so did the Engro Corporation which depreciated Rs 12.07, while the United Bank shed Rs 1.52. The Silk Bank, with trading of 1.412 million shares, topped volume leaders, followed by the WorldCall Telecom with 100,000.