KARACHI: Stocks staged a handsome recovery after a volatile session on Friday, as the indices oscillated in both directions before closing with decent gains.
Foreign investors ended the previous session on Thursday as net sellers, with a net outflow of $5.36 million.
Among major developments that impacted global markets, oil prices recovered a little but remained below $30 per barrel. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 2.22pc to 25.78pc in the morning, while Brent eased 0.91pc to 28.21 a barrel.
On the economic front, Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves dropped by $162 million to $18,743 million (as on March 13, 2020). The reserves previously stood at $18,905 million (March 6). Net reserves with SBP fell by $110 million on a weekly basis while net reserves with banks declined by $52 million.
After a positive start to the day, the benchmark KSE-100 Index fell by 226.02 points to mark its intraday low at 29,903.81. However, the index rallied thereon, gathering 798.22 points to record its intraday high at 30,928.05. It finally closed higher by 537.58 points at 30,667.41.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index appreciated by 1,113.42 points to end at 47,460.44, while the KSE All Share Index captured 420.98 points, settling at 22,106.41. Of the total traded shares, 169 advanced and 132 declined.
The overall volumes declined from 307.78 million in the last session to 244.23 million, with K-Electric Limited (KEL -1.64pc), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF -6.82pc) and The Bank of Punjab (BOP +5.39pc) topping the volume chart. The scripts had exchanged 23.39 million, 16.63 million and 14.96 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that painted the KSE-100 Index green included oil & gas exploration (+252.72 points), banking (+205.64 points) and fertiliser (+140.05 points). Among the companies, Engro Corporation Limited (ENGRO +108.11 points), Habib Bank Limited (HBL +107.63 points) and Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +91.53 points) remained the top positive contributors.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Suzuki Motors Company Limited (PSMC -2.73pc) announced its financial performance for FY19. The company’s revenue shrunk by -2.76pc while the cost of sales inched up by 1.56pc, resulting in a 71.83pc YoY decline in gross profit.
PSMC’s finance cost surged from Rs362.52 million in FY18 to Rs2.09 billion in FY19; earnings per share deteriorated from Rs15.77 to Rs-35.49 in FY19, while dividend yield declined from 1.81pc to nil.
