KARACHI: Investors of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured another volatile session on Wednesday where indices ended negative after range-bound activity. Foreign investors offloaded equities worth $3.86 million on Tuesday.
According to recent data published by the State Bank of Pakistan, remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis increased by 9.35pc in November 2019 as compared to the same month of last year. On a cumulative basis, overseas Pakistanis remitted $9.298 billion in the first five months of FY20. Remittances stood at $9.281 billion in the corresponding period of last year.
Meanwhile, passenger car sales in November 2019 slipped by 44pc as 8,524 units were sold compared to 15,334 units in the same period last year. Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited (HCAR -2.22pc) remained the top decliner as it posted a fall of 65.92pc in its sales. The company had observed 16-18 days of non-production in the previous month. Indus Motor Company Limited (INDU -2.50pc) witnessed a fall of 56.18pc while Pakistan Suzuki Motors Company Limited (PSMC -4.75pc) recorded a decline of 26.94pc.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index, which opened at 40,741.89, touched its intraday high at 40,911.19 midday after gathering 246.59 points. The index then headed south, reaching its day’s low at 40,450.98 after losing 213.62 points. It settled lower by 133.18 points at 40,531.42. The KMI-30 Index declined by 329.88 points to end at 64,188.30, while the KSE All Share Index depreciated by 30.44 points, closing at 28,937.45.
The overall trading volumes increased from 254.62 million in the previous session to 305.03 million. Shares worth Rs10.85 billion were traded on Wednesday. Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +4.34pc), Power Cement Limited (POWER +6.66pc) and Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL +1.78pc) topped the volume chart, exchanging 44.52 million, 16.30 million and 15.62 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that led the KSE-100 index in the negative direction included banking (-49.75 points), power generation and distribution (-43.85 points) and cement (-27.50 points). Among the companies, Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL -32.48 points), Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC -28.16 points) and Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (DAWH -18.18 points) chipped off maximum points from the index.
