KARACHI: Despite early hiccups, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) managed to close the last session of the month in green, mainly due to late rally in banking and E&P stocks.
The performance of global equity markets remained mixed, whereas crude oil prices dipped lower from the previous close; WTI crude price dropping 1.60pc to $44.80 while Brent crude price falling 1.80pc to $47.38.
“The stock market opened on a negative note, slipping over 100 points before banking stocks took the front seat and drove the index to recovery,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. “Changes in the MSCI semi-annual index review, which were made earlier in the month, came into effect today, resulting in MCB among banking sector and OGDC and PPL among E&P sector witnessing brisk activity.”
MARKET SUMMARY
The benchmark KSE-100 Index moved within a narrow range on Monday, touching its intraday low at 40,669.85 (-137.24 points) and high at 41,115.10 (+308.01 points). It settled higher by 261.73 points at 41,068.82.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index accumulated 586.39 points to close at 66,318.10, while the KSE All Share Index gained 129.85 points, ending at 28,849.45.
The overall market volumes declined from 397.8 million shares in the previous session to 388.6 million shares (-2pc). Average traded value, however, increased by 7pc, from $82.5 million to $88.2 million. Hum Network Ltd (HUMNL -9.56pc), TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +7.49pc) and Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL +4.25pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 88.69 million, 31.85 million and 24.80 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that kept the benchmark index afloat included technology & communication (+57.32 points), oil & gas marketing (+49.34 points) and banking (+40.34 points). Among the companies, TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +50.17 points), Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd (PSO +40.32 points) and MCB Bank Ltd (MCB +22.59 points) remained the top contributors.
Adding 3.75pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the refinery sector ended as the session’s top performer, with Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BYCO +1.42pc), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL +4.25pc), National Refinery Ltd (NRL +7.50pc) and Attock Refinery Ltd (ATRL +5.00pc) posting decent gains.
On the financial side, Silk Bank Ltd (SILK +1.09pc) announced an earning per share of Rs0.19 for the third quarter of FY20 (Rs0.32 last year); Exide Pakistan Ltd (EXIDE +0.33pc) declared an EPS of Rs0.01 for 2QFY21 (Rs4.34 in 2QFY20); whereas Kohinoor Spinning Mills Ltd (KOSM +1.63pc) recorded an EPS of Rs0.40 for 1QFY21 (Rs0.49 last year).
