KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange opened positive but turned negative after intraday and closed bearish after shedding 323.10 points to drop to 45478.63 on Wednesday.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 46003.96 points and lowest level of 45423.95 points, with the volume of 156.03 million shares and value of Rs8.36 billion. As many as 367 companies were active; of which 118 advanced, 231 declined and 18 remained unchanged.
K-Electric Limited was the volume leader with 11.22 million shares, shedding Rs0.10 to reach Rs7. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 8.57 million shares, adding Rs0.16 to end at Rs9.54 and Fauji Cement Co Ltd with 8.39 million shares, gaining Rs0.20 to close at Rs29.59.
The top three gainers were Khyber Tobacco Co. Ltd with price per share of 708.40 (33.73), Abbot Laboratories Pak Ltd with price per share of 743.48 (20.44) and Indus Motor Company Ltd of 1879.18 (17.05).
The top three losers were Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd with price per share of 9000 (-401), Unilever Pakistan Foods Ltd.(R) with price per share of 3185 (-165) and Pakistan Services Limited share of 900 (-40.50).
The stocks started day on bullish note and added 147 points to reach 45949 level in early trading. The Pakistan Stock Exchange shed most of the early gains but remained in green zone till midday as the benchmark 100-index added 42 points to reach 45844 level.
On Tuesday, the stocks turned positive after declining in three straight sessions, as the investors are excited about upcoming results where Engro Polymers and Lotchem are likely to post healthy growth in their earnings owing to uptick in their margins (both stocks cumulatively generated trading volumes of 21mn shares). The government is moving ahead to get syndicated financing of $450m and restoration of investors’ sentiments in cement stocks as market talks about rise in cement prices.
Among sectors, cement sector added 51 points to index, followed by chemicals (29 points) and pharmaceutical (23 points). Moreover, market participation in terms of volumes and value went up by 2 percent and 13 percent respectively.
Top five scrips including LUCK (+1.9 percent), BAHL (+2.1 percent), COLG (+5 percent), PAKT (+3.1 percent) & NESTLE (+0.7 percent) added 99 points to the index whereas stocks including HBL (-1 percent), OGDC (-1.5 percent), UBL (-1 percent), FFBL (-5 percent) & NRL (-3.1 percent) withheld 104 points from the index gain.
Attock Cement (ACPL) announced financial results for 3QFY18, where the company reported EPS of Rs5.88, down by 21 percent YoY due to decline in GP margins by 13 points to 30 percent. Finance cost of the company went up to Rs74m, up 17x YoY.
