KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured a volatile session on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing in the red despite heading north during early trade.
“The stock market opened the day on a positive note but couldn’t sustain the selling pressure, resulting in its downfall,” said an analyst at Arif Habib Ltd. “Banks, cement and E&P stocks weathered selling pressure regardless of international crude oil prices. However, fertiliser stocks traded no different than the rest and saw a decline in their prices.”
The KSE-100 Index gained 126.76 points to record its intraday high at 34,119.51 soon after the commencement of the session. However, failing to maintain its flight, it lost 317.26 points to mark its intraday low at 33,675.49. The index finally settled lower by 264.57 points at 33,728.18.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index plunged 493.28 points to close at 55,068.37, while the KSE All Share Index dropped 84.39 points, ending at 23,943.72. Of the total traded shares, 140 advanced and 147 declined.
The overall market volumes declined from 261.32 million in the previous session to 208.88 million, with Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL +0.26pc), Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +0.71pc) and TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG +4.16pc) topping the volume chart. The scrips had exchanged 23.80 million, 20.47 million and 14.48 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that halted the KSE-100 Index’s flight included banking (-98.04 points), cement (-54.60 points) and oil & gas exploration (-39.13 points). Among the companies, MCB Bank Limited (MCB -55.82 points), Habib Bank Limited (HBL -42.14 points) and Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC -36.12 points) dented the index the most.
The cement sector (-1.80pc) turned out to be the biggest loser of the day, with DG Khan Cement (DGKC -1.86pc), Lucky Cement (LUCK -1.81pc), Bestway Cement (BWCL -1.78pc) and Maple Leaf Cement (MLCF -1.68pc) closing in the red.
Meanwhile, Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL +0.97pc) posted a 96pc surge in its profit, which stood at Rs5.51 billion in the first quarter of FY20. The bank’s earnings per share improved from Rs2.18 in 1QFY19 to Rs4.28 in 1QFY20.
The biggest Islamic bank,which is rapidly growing and a favorite among the masses.Why its share price is not improving even after getting 96% growth in its EPS?