KSE-100 lands in red amid volatility

KARACHI: Stocks failed to maintain the positive momentum of the previous session and landed in the red zone amid volatile trading on Friday.

Foreign investors offloaded equities worth $0.860 million on Thursday.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the current account deficit has shrunk by a massive 55pc in the first two months of the current fiscal year (July-August 2019) as compared to the same period last year.

The KSE-100 Index accumulated 148.70 points during the initial trading hours to record an intraday high of 32,332.73. The index remained volatile throughout the day, marking an intraday low of 32,055.30 after losing 128.73 points. It finally settled lower by 72.93 points at 32,111.10. The KMI-30 Index declined by 105.22 points to end at 51,008.89 million, while the KSE All Share Index depreciated by 45.43 points, closing at 23,383.91.

The overall trading volumes increased by 12pc on a daily basis to 153.15 million. Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF -5.86pc) topped the volume chart (18.01 million shares) following the announcement of its financial performance for FY19. The company also announced that it would increase its authorised capital.

The board has approved to invest Rs1,500 million as loans/advances to Kohinoor Textile Mills Limited (KTML) Holding Company. The company’s sales inched up by 1.19pc while its earnings per share declined by 60.73pc to Rs2.47 due to a significant increase in finance cost. The company also declared a final cash dividend of Rs0.50 and 85pc right shares at a premium (Rs12).

TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG -5.27pc) and Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited (PIBTL -2.84pc) were next in line on the volume chart. The scripts had traded 6.91 million shares and 6.64 million shares exchanged respectively.

Mughal Iron and Steel Industries Limited (MUGHAL -4.00pc) declared earnings per share of Rs5.46 for FY19 (FY18 Rs5.13) along with a final cash dividend of Rs 1.20 per share.  Pakistan Synthetics Limited (PSYL -4.98pc) announced an EPS of Rs-2.21 for FY19 (FY18 Rs2.09) and rights issue of 50pc at Rs18.

Similarly, Thal Limited (THAL -0.91pc) announced an EPS of Rs38.93 per share for FY19 along with a final cash dividend of Rs5.50, while TPL Corp Limited (TPL 2.90pc) published an EPS of Rs-0.63 per share.