KARACHI: Opened on positive note, the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Tuesday closed negative as the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 104.19 points or 0.28% to settle at 36,663.38.
The KSE-100 index fell in a volatile trading session despite hitting a high of 571 points in early hours.
The PSX benchmark index showed wide swings with intra-day movement of 848 points. Engro Corporation (-1.21%) traded under pressure after the finance minister directed the petroleum ministry to review the LNG terminal agreements.
International Steels (-2.90%) announced its 1Q FY19 result, posting earnings per share (EPS) of Rs1.93 per share, down 16% year-on-year. Cherat Cement (-0.71%) also announced 1Q FY19 result, declaring EPS of Rs2.44 per share, down 29% year-on-year.
Index-heavy Habib Bank Limited (-1.68%), United Bank Limited (-2.81%) and Lucky Cement (-3.33%) were the major laggards.
Traded volumes slightly increased by 10% to 182 million shares while traded value decreased to $41 million. Top volume stocks were The Bank of Punjab (+5.81%) and TRG Pakistan (-5%).
Overall, trading volumes increased to 181.7 million shares compared with Monday’s tally of 165.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.45 billion.
Shares of 375 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 167 stocks closed higher, 190 declined and 18 remained unchanged.
WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 36 million shares, losing Rs0.07 to close at Rs1.53. It was followed by The Bank of Punjab with 12.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.58 to close at Rs10.56 and Aisha Steel Mills (convertible preference shares) with 10.99 million shares, losing Re1 to close at Rs11.2.
