LAHORE: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) opened the week with weak sentiments ahead of the soon to be announced Federal Budget 2019. Meanwhile, State Bank of Pakistan governor has said that due to low inflation and solid growth there was no imminent devaluation of the rupee in the offing. However, market participation remained narrow despite the ongoing earnings season.
The KSE 100 index touched its intraday low of 45,191.00 points in early hours of trading when it was down 68.34 points. The index later gained some rhythm and closed higher by 112.61 points at 45,371.95. The KMI 30 index swayed on both sides and ended changed just a little, up 72.69 points. The KSE All Share Index with 174 advancers and 158 decliners settled with an appreciation of 125.99 points.
The market volumes remained thin. A total of 112.62 million shares were traded on Monday. Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +4.97 per cent) was the top pick of investors and 11.11 million shares of the script were seen on the table. The company not only attracted healthy volume but also touched day’s maximum possible price after the declaration of financials for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. Meanwhile, the company annou8nced earnings per share of Rs0.47.
Contribution to the KSE 100 index gains came from select names within consumer staples (+0.67 per cent), consumer discretionary (+0.64 per cent), energy (+0.43 per cent) and financials (+0.34 per cent). Major gains were seen in PAKT (+2.81 per cent), HASCOL (+4.36 per cent), THALL (+1.57 per cent), PPL (+1.43 per cent), PSO (+1.93 per cent), HBL (+0.47 per cent) and HMB (+2.18 per cent) within these sectors.
On the flip side, industrials (-0.46 per cent) and healthcare (-0.33 per cent) dragged the index down, thanks to MTL (-4.53 per cent), PAEL (-0.85 per cent), SHFA (-1.41 per cent) and GLAXO (-1.03 per cent). Meanwhile, ENGRO announced 1QCY18 NPAT of Rs4.19 billion with an EPS of Rs8.01, up by a massive 48 per cent YoY. The result was above market expectation as key subsidiaries EFERT and EPCL surpassed market forecasts. The company also announced an interim cash dividend of Rs5.0 per share.
Kohat Cement Company Limited (KOHC +0.05 per cent) came out with a performance for the third quarter of 2018. Sales revenue of the company was stagnant compared to the same quarter last year while the cost of sales increased 24 per cent. This resulted in profit after taxation of Rs651.83 million which converted into per-share earnings of Rs4.22. Earnings per share for 3QFY17 was 30 per cent more at Rs6.03.
