KARACHI: Continuing with the positive trend from the previous session, indices of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained in the green zone throughout Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index accumulating over 600 points.
Foreign investors closed the previous session (Tuesday) as net buyers, registering a net inflow of $0.208 million.
“Oil stocks got traction from positive trend in international crude oil price (WTI), which increased by 14pc and helped E&P stocks to post price gains,” said an analyst at Arif Habib Ltd. “The banking sector stocks, on the other hand, remained muted amid low volumes due to prospects of a rate cut.”
The KSE-100 Index registered gains throughout the session, closing higher by 605.45 points at 33,158.84.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index accumulated 1,574.61 points to close at 53,465.33, while the KSE All Share Index gathered 385.32 points, settling at 23,363.03. Of the total traded shares, 198 advanced and 89 declined.
The overall market volumes shrunk from 157.76 million in the previous session to 140.45 million, with Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +1.42pc), Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL +2.31pc) and DG Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC +0.46pc) topping the volume chart. The scrips had exchanged 18.44 million, 8.22 million and 7.27 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that painted the KSE-100 Index green included oil & gas exploration (+176.72 points), power generation & distribution (+120.50 points) and fertiliser (+85.14 points). Among the companies, Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC +115.83 points), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +60.71 points) and Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL +50.33 points) remained the top positive contributors.
On the financial side, Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited (GATM +0.90pc) announced earnings per share (EPS) of Rs-0.86 for the third quarter of FY20 (Rs1.51 last year), Nishat Mills Limited (NML +6.34pc) declared an EPS of Rs2.91 for third quarter FY20 (Rs2.77 in 3QFY19), Hi-Tech Lubricants Limited (HTL +2.58pc) published an EPS of Rs0.08 for 3QFY20 (Rs-0.41 last year), Pakistan State Oil Company Limited (PSO -0.26pc) recorded an EPS of Rs-7.30 (Rs3.57 in 3QFY19) while Nishat Chunian Power Limited (NCPL +0.23pc) posted an EPS of Rs3.55 (Rs2.05 last year).
Meanwhile, in a notification to the exchange, Azgard Nine Limited (ANL -1.02pc) announced the closure of its production facility/operations in view of “catastrophic and unavoidable situation at the premises due to COVID-19”.
