KARACHI: Investors at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile trading session on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index managing to recover early losses to close in the green.
Foreign investors remained net sellers in the previous session (Tuesday), registering a net outflow of $2.50 million.
“Tumbling international crude prices, especially that of Brent (traded below $16/bbl briefly), caused damage to the investors’ sentiment today,” said an analyst at Arif Habib Ltd. “After trading in the red zone for most part of the day, the index made sporadic recoveries thanks to banking sector stocks.”
Losing 529.26 points in early trade, the KSE-100 Index recorded its intraday low at 31,893.57. However, the index changed its direction thereon, marking its intraday high at 32,640.17 after adding 217.34 points. It finally closed flat (+41.40 points) at 32,464.23.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index lost 325.34 points to end at 51,251.29, whereas the KSE All Share Index gained only 5.02 points, settling at 22,886.89. Of the total traded shares, 146 advanced and 129 declined.
The overall market volumes contracted by 29pc to 239.74 million, with Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +4.48pc), Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL +0.29pc) and D G Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC +1.73pc) leading the volume chart. The scrips had exchanged 47.72 million, 17.38 million and 13.80 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that brought positivity to the KSE-100 Index included cement (+73.89 points), banking (+42.44 points) and miscellaneous (+6.84 points). Among the companies, MCB Bank Limited (MCB +40.38 points), Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK +27.41 points) and Bank AL Habib Limited (BAHL +16.11 points) remained the top contributors to the index.
On the financial side, MCB Bank Limited (MCB +2.81pc) announced earnings per share (EPS) of Rs5.50, Allied Bank Limited (ABL +3.35pc) posted an EPS of Rs3.51, Askari Bank Limited (AKBL +1.07pc) declared an EPS of Rs1.47, while Habib Bank Limited (HBL -2.61pc) recorded an EPS of Rs1.25.
Meanwhile, Kot Addu Power Company Limited (KAPCO +7.52pc) announced financials for the third quarter of FY20. The company’s sales increased by 10.88pc YoY, while cost of sales fell by 9.88pc. Its EPS improved from Rs4.17 last year to Rs6.87.
