\The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), following the trend from the last trading session, started the day in red on Tuesday but took a U-turn in the second half to end with slight gains. Foreign investors continued selling on Monday with a net outflow of $1.73 million.
The KSE 100 index lost 335.74 points shortly after the start of the trading session to touch an intraday low. It then recovered 106.09 points to reach an intraday high before settling higher by a minor 55.95 points at 41,152.28. The KMI 30 index gathered 66.11 points at 70,588.61, while the KSE All Share index closed higher by 35.04 points at 29,851.59. Out of 341 total scripts traded, only 145 advanced while 171 declined.
The overall trading volumes declined from the preceding session to 177.17 million. Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTCHEM +5.52 per cent), TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG +2.50 per cent) and Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited (PIBTL +1.39 per cent) were the top traded scripts of the day. The scripts had traded 21.85 million, 17.75 million shares and 12.83 million shares respectively.
The top gainers of the day included chemical sector (+2.87 per cent), tobacco sector (2.48 per cent), modaraba sector (2.43 per cent), miscellaneous sector (+1.79 per cent) and paper and board sector (+1.77 per cent). On the other hand, food and personal care products sector (-2.79 per cent), closed-end mutual fund sector (-2.14 per cent) and vanaspati and allied industries sector (-1.70 per cent) were the top losers.
The automobile assembler sector lost 0.70 per cent from its cumulative market capitalization after the announcement of the latest data by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA). Auto sales increased by 6pc year-on-year and 28pc on month-on-month in October 2018. The anticipated increase in price due to currency devaluation and higher input cost might have motivated the customers to get into an early purchase.
Pakistan Suzuki Motors Company Limited (PSMC +2.07pc), Millat Tractors Limited (MTL +0.27pc), Indus Motor Company Limited (INDU +0.12pc) all ended positively. On the other hand, Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited (HCAR) was down by 4.15pc, Atlas Honda Limited (ATLH) by 1.12pc and Ghandhara Industries Limited (GHNI) by 3.44pc.
MEANWHILE, A report released by Arif Habib Limited (AHL) Research has said the PSX posted a 7.8% year-on-year (YoY) increase in profit during nine months of the calendar year 2018.
According to the report, this growth in profitability was fueled by the fertilizer sector (+90%), oil and gas exploration (+27%), chemicals (+19%) and power generation and distribution (+14%).
The profitability of the KSE-100 index was stressed by the banking stocks (-10%), oil and gas marketing companies (-9%), cement (-8%), automobile assemblers (-11%).
Also, amongst low-weighted sectors, noteworthy performance included textile spinning (+169%), leasing (+89%), Insurance (+35%), paper and board (-27%) and food (-16%).
And profitability in the third quarter of 2018 rose meagerly by 0.8% YoY, however it fell by 4.7% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ).
The YoY rise in profit was fueled by growth in E&P (+39%), fertilizer sectors (+53%), whilst on a QoQ basis, the fall in profitability was attributable to lower profits in the banking sector (-21%) and cement sector (-47) on PSX.
