KARACHI: The investors of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a jittery ride on Monday as they waited for the verdict by the accountability court on a reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Indices oscillated in north and south in search of a direction, as investors remained indecisive and preferred to stay on sidelines, thus lowering the volumes. Foreign investors ended as net-sellers in the last five sessions of the outgoing week with a total outflow of $12.22 million. The banking and oil & gas exploration sectors took the worst hit.
Moreover, as per news reports, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while speaking to media in Multan, revealed that the foreign ministry will be hosting a two-day conference aimed at attracting foreign direct investment into the country and dignitaries from atleast 11 different counties will be attending the conference.
The KSE 100 index, after swinging in both directions, reached its intraday low of 37,934.01. After recovering its losses, the index touched its day’s high at 38,347.25. It finally settled higher by 57.88 points at 38,308.92. The KMI 30 index managed to gather 67.65 points and closed at 64,227.47, while KSE All Share index ended at 28,480.19 after gaining 96.09 points. Out of the total traded scripts, 137 advanced while only 136 declined.
The overall trading volumes remained low and were recorded at 74.66 million. Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited (FATIMA +2.64pc) led the volume chart with 10.07 million shares exchanging hands, followed by K-Electric Limited (KEL +0.17pc) with 6.40 million traded shares. Next in line was Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL +0.93pc) with 5.51 million shares exchanging hands.
Top gainers of the day included the woolen sector (+4.72pc), tobacco sector (+3.73pc), miscellaneous sector (+2.66pc), oil and gas marketing sector (+2.11pc) and synthetic and rayon sector (+1.38pc), whereas jute sector (-1.70pc), automobile parts and accessories sector (-0.74pc), automobile assembler sector (-0.69pc), glass and ceramics sector (-0.63pc) and leasing companies’ sector (-0.61pc) remained on the losing side.
Sind Abadgar’s Sugar Mill Limited (SASML +1.57pc) released its financial performance for the year ending 30th September 2018. A final cash dividend of Rs1.60 per share was declared by the company. Sales surged up by a massive 109pc YoY, while earnings per share improved from Rs-38.43 in the same period last year to Rs6.54 in the current year.
