KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended the last session of the week slightly negative, as indices kept trading in red amidst low market turnover. Foreign investors were net buyers for $2.60 million worth of shares on Thursday.
As per reports, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman will arrive in Islamabad on a two-day official visit. During his stay, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will be signing several agreements and memorandum of understandings for different sectors.
Furthermore, the finance minister announced that the federal government has incorporated a holding company named Sarmaya-e-Pakistan for all state-owned enterprises. He added that the government was focused on turning around state-owned enterprises and eliminating their losses.
According to the data published by the State Bank of Pakistan, the foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank surged by 0.16pc and now stand at $8.21 billion. Previously, the reserves had plunged below the $7 billion mark. However, financial bailout packages from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia helped in providing a cushion to the depleting reserves.
After depleting by 145.95 points, the KSE 100 index touched its intraday low of 40,361.03. The index finally settled lower by 20.31 points at 40,486.67. The KMI 30 index closed negative (down by 141.62 points) at 67,988.24, while the KSE All Share index managed to gather 6.33 points, ending at 29,331.21. Out of total traded scripts, 132 advanced, 160 declined while the value of 14 remained unchanged.
The market volumes declined massively and were recorded at 92.99 million with 46.63 million coming from KSE 100 index scripts. Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTCHEM -2.04pc), The Bank of Punjab (BOP +1.72pc) and Soneri Bank Limited (SNBL -1.55pc) led the volume chart. The scripts had 10.01 million shares, 5.84 million shares and 5.79 million shares exchanging hands respectively.
Baluchistan Wheels Limited (BWHL +5.00pc) declared its financial performance for the second quarter of Financial Year 2018-19. Sales declined by 21pc YoY, while earnings per share appreciated from Rs1.30 in the same period last year to Rs1.79.
Ali Asghar Textile Mills Limited (AATM 0.00pc) released its financial results for the second quarter of FY19. The company’s revenue was down by -73pc YoY, while earnings per share deteriorated from Rs0.10 in the same period last year to Rs-0.08 in the current year.
