KARACHI: Opened on positive note, the Pakistan Stock Exchange closed flat on Wednesday after adding just 9.76 points to reach 46486.49 level.
The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 46759.47 points and lowest level of 46472.15 points, with the volume of 284 million shares and value of Rs11.26 billion. As many as 377 companies were active; of which 211 advanced, 151 declined and 15 remained unchanged.
Agritech Limited was the volume leader with 19.14 million shares, adding Rs0.94 to reach Rs8.31. It was followed by Lotte Chemical Pakistan Ltd with 18.08 million shares, gaining Rs0.21 to end at Rs11.34 and Azgard Nine Limited with 13 million shares, adding Rs0.71 to close at Rs17.05.
The top three gainers were Island Textile Mills Ltd with price per share of 879.90 (41.90), Exide Pakistan Ltd with price per share of 455.88 (21.70) and Atlas Battery Ltd of 449.09 (21.38).
The top three losers were Nestle Pakistan Ltd with price per share of 12850 (-130), Bata Pakistan Ltd with price per share of 2875 (-99) and Colgate Palmolive (Pak) Ltd share of 2900.01 (-46).
The stocks recouped in early trading with 274 points to reach 46750 level. The Pakistan Stock Exchange remained bullish till midday and added 203 points to take the tally to 46680 level.
On Tuesday, the stocks closed lower, with the benchmark 100-share index shedding 103 points to close at 46, 476.73 points.
Investors in equities remained sidelined as formal implication of a major development (tax reforms package) is pending parliament’s consent. However, trade activity in small cap stocks remained investors’ top pick, where LOTCHEM and EPCL cumulatively generated volume of 34m shares as market talks about possible withdrawal/removal of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) on fuel and power expense, where LOTCHEM and EPCL both will be beneficiaries (both companies are provisioning GIDC amount) along with fertilizer manufactures (FFC and FFBL mainly).
E&Ps sector added 60 points to index mainly on the back of rise in crude oil prices as trade spat between US and China is softening. Moreover, market participation in terms of volumes went up by 8%, while value fell by 5%. Top five stocks BAHL (-4.2%), HBL (-0.8%), MCB (-1%), COLG (-5%) & UBL (-0.6%) withheld 121pts from the index whereas stocks including PPL (+1.9%), POL (+0.8%), ATRL (+4%), FFC (+0.6%) & PSMC (+3.4%) added 80pts to the index gain. Pakistan remittances balance for Mar 2018 stood at $1.8b, up by 5% YoY, 22% MoM.
World Call Telecom (WTL) announced its financial results for 2017, where basic EPS of the company clocked in at Rs6.18 against LPS of Rs1.72 last year, mainly due to rise in other income to Rs8.1bn from Rs192mn in 2016.