The benchmark KSE-100 Index close at 45,429.22 points
KARACHI
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a very low-volume and lacklustre session under new trading system on Monday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding 149.14 points (-0.33 percent) to close at 45,429.22 points.
The market opened on a positive note but this positiveness continued for a few minutes only and later the index moved towards south and remained there till end of the session.
The KSE-100 Index moved in a range of 347.2 points, showing an intraday high of 45,655.2 points and a low of 45,308 points. Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 35.87 points (-0.12 percent) to close at 31,108.38 points, while All Share Islamic Index shed 48.94 points (-0.22 percent) to close at 22,104.2 points.
A total of 319 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 156 closed up, shares of 148 closed down while shares of 15 companies remained unchanged. Out of 93 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 33 closed up, 53 closed down and seven remained unchanged.
The overall market volumes decreased by 134.79 million to 165.89 million shares. Total volumes traded for the KSE-100 Index were only 48.92 million shares. The number of total trades decreased by 63,393 to 54,927, while the value traded decreased by Rs6.85 billion to Rs4.97 billion.
Among scrips, HUMNL topped the volumes with 50.76 million shares, followed by WTL (17.44 million) and BOP (10.04 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HUMNL, WTL, BOP, GGL and TRG, which formed around 56 percent of total volumes.
According to experts, delay in any positive outcome from talks going on between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for resumption of $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is hitting the investors’ confidence hard.
On the other hand, continuous depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar is another factor that is very discouraging for the market.
They said that the Pakistani rupee has shed Rs3.25 during the last five sessions against the US dollar, while depreciation during the fiscal year 2021-22 has been Rs17.01, which is about over 10 percent.
Moreover, the expected increase in interest rate in the next monetary policy meeting of the State Bank of Pakistan is also affecting the market sentiment, besides a consistent increase in global crude oil prices.
The Brent and WTI crossed $86 and $85 a barrel during the day, which also impacted the bourse negatively.
About financial results announced during the day, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL) unveiled its nine-month financial results wherein the company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs5.96 billion (EPS: Rs4.41) compared to a net profit of Rs24.41mn in the same period a year ago. DG Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC) announced its financial results for the first quarter of FY22 ended on September 30, 2021 where the company witnessed a profit after tax at Rs1.13 billion (EPS: Rs2.33), against a loss of Rs293.66 million in 1QFY21.
Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) revealed its financial statement for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2022 ended on September 30, 2021, and company incurred a loss after tax of Rs378.38 million, compared to the profit after tax worth Rs281.83mn in 1QFY21. This has translated into a loss per share (LPS) which clocked in at Rs0.6 in 1QFY22, against the earnings per share of Rs0.49 in the same period last year (SPLY).
Bank Alfalah Limited (BAFL) posted profit-after-tax of Rs10.481 billion for the nine months period ended September 2021, compared with Rs8.33 billion, showing a growth of 26 percent. The bank declared earnings per share of Rs5.9 for the period under review, compared with Rs4.69 EPS in the same period of the last year.
Likewise, Habib Metropolitan Bank (HMB) observed an increase of 20% in its nine-month profits, standing at Rs10.21 billion which translated into an EPS of Rs9.51 when compared to the net profits of Rs8.53bn (EPS: 7.94) recorded the same period of last year.
