KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange benchmark KSE-100 index failed on Wednesday to sustain the gains made the previous day and lost ground in the wake of a decision on 46% increase in gas tariff as well as weakness in regional markets.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 132.93 points or 0.32% to settle at 41,620.96.
The prime minister approved a summary for gas price hike which dented investor interest in stocks of energy-intensive companies including chemical, textile and cement.
On the flip side, public gas utilities Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (+1.53%) and Sui Southern Gas Company (+1.52%) stood positive.
Trading activity remained low with only 70 million shares changing hands in the benchmark KSE-100 index as investors stayed on sidelines in the absence of any positive triggers.
On the results front, Kot Addu Power Company (+3.95%) announced its annual performance for FY18, declaring earnings per share of Rs12.06 along with final cash dividend of Rs4.8 per share, the analyst said.
Overall, trading volumes edged up to 126.93 million shares compared with Tuesday’s tally of 126.57 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.5 billion.
Shares of 365 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 110 stocks closed higher, 229 declined while 26 remained unchanged.
Lotte Chemical was the volume leader with 8.27 million shares, losing Rs0.49 to close at Rs13.4. It was followed by Pakistan International Bulk Terminal with 8.23 million shares, gaining Rs0.27 to close at Rs12.48 and Nimir Resins with 8.13 million shares, losing Rs0.9 to close at Rs10.16.
