KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another volatile trading session on Tuesday. After an initial dip, the indices recovered to end the session marginally higher.
The KSE 100 index slipped 112.86 points initially before gaining momentum around midday. It then touched an intraday high of 40,647.97 with an appreciation of 227.88 points before closing at 40,624.39 (up by 204.30 points). The KMI 30 index jumped 550.69 points with Attock Petroleum Limited (APL +5.00pc) and Shell Pakistan Limited (SHEL +5.00pc) at their upper circuit breaker prices, while the KSE All Share index accumulated 139.14 points with 163 advancers and 148 decliners.
The market volumes swelled by 22pc as compared to the previous session to reach 154.73 million. Dewan Cement Limited (DCL +7.77pc) and Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIAA +0.96pc) were on top of the volume ladder with 10.56 million and 10.13 million shares exchanging hands respectively. Fauji Foods Limited (FFL -0.41pc) followed with a volume of 6.80 million after it declared financial performance for the year ended December 31, 2018.
The company witnessed a 15.61pc YoY increase in sales from Rs7.00 billion to Rs8.09 billion, improving gross profit margin from 2.67pc to 4.73pc. Greater operating costs and finance costs resulted in loss after taxation of Rs2.85 billion against Rs2.29 million in FY17. Loss per share clocked at Rs5.39 and the management did not announce payout of any sort.
Financial performance was announced by several peers in the sugar sector during the day. JDW Sugar Mills Limited (JDWS -5.00pc) was floored following the announcement of a loss per share of Rs5.91 in the first quarter of the current fiscal, a massive decline when compared to the loss per share of Rs0.67 in the same period last year.
Al-Noor Sugar Mills Limited (ALNRS -4.98pc) had a similar fate as loss per share hit Rs7.47 in the first quarter FY19. Dewan Sugar Mills Limited (DWSM -0.75pc) also recorded a loss per share of Rs1.65 while Imperial Sugar Limited (IMSL -4.32pc) reported earnings per share of Rs0.56.
