KARACHI: Investors of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a jittery session on Thursday, as the indices kept changing directions throughout the day before closing slightly negative.
Foreign investors closed the preceding session (Wednesday) as net sellers, with a net outflow of $4.92 million. Major selling was witnessed in the banking ($1.47 million) and oil & gas exploration ($1.95 million) sectors.
On the economic front, remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis surged by 9pc in January 2019 to $1,907 million as compared to the same period last year. Country-wise data showed that highest amounts were remitted from Saudi Arabia ($433 million), UAE ($395 million), USA ($335 million), UK ($299 million) and Malaysia ($124 million). On a cumulative basis, $13,302 million were remitted in the first seven months of FY20 as compared to $12,774 million in the last fiscal.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index, which opened at 40,629.00, jumped to its intraday high at 40,787.09 after gaining 255.96 points. It then slipped to its day’s low at 40,323.42 after shedding 207.71 points. The index finally settled lower by 75.69 points at 40,455.44.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index dropped by 322.96 points to close at 64,631.93, while the KSE All Share Index lost 53.26 points, ending at 28,256.09. Out of the total traded scripts, 124 advanced whereas 165 declined.
Sectors that pulled the KSE-100 Index lower included oil & gas exploration sector (-51.66 points), oil & gas marketing (-24.13 points) and power generation & distribution sector (-23.92 points). Among the companies, Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL -21.42 points), Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK -20.65 points) and Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC -14.04 points) dented the index the most.
The overall market volumes inched up by 9.48pc from the previous session and were recorded at 197.44 million. Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +5.81pc), D G Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC +4.52pc) and The Bank of Punjab (BOP -0.91pc) remained the volume leaders of the day. The scripts had exchanged 22.38 million, 18.25 million and 13.82 million shares, respectively.
On the market front, D G Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC +4.52pc) announced earnings per share of Rs1.33 for the second quarter of FY20 as compared to Rs3.02 last year. Meanwhile, Askari Bank Limited (AKBL +3.63pc) declared an EPS of Rs5.57 for FY19 (Rs3.52 in FY18). The company also declared a final cash dividend of Rs1.50.
Also, Nishat Power Limited (NPL +1.10pc) announced its financial performance for 2QFY19. The company reported an EPS of Rs3.27 as compared to Rs2.58 in 2QFY18. An interim cash dividend of Rs1.00 was also declared by NPL.
