Daily Times

Karachi: Pakistan equities closed bullish amid thin trade on late session support in cement, fertilizer and auto scrips. The market witnessed positive sentiment during the day as the index hit intraday high of 49,739 points but profit-taking in later half limited the gains to 74 points to close at 49630.04 level.

Concerns for surge in Government borrowings, rising circular debt invited mid session pressure. Strong earning announcements in cement, steel and auto sectors supported the index to close above days low, senior analyst Ahsan Mehanti observed.

Index heavy weights, Habib Bank and United Bank supported the index by cumulatively contributing 63 points to the gain. International Steel (ISL) continued to attract investors interest which led the stock to close at its upper limit.

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) announced better than anticipated 2QFY17 results. Strong sales and higher other income were the key earnings driver for PSO during 2QFY17. PSO oil volumes grew by 22 percent to 3.7 million tons in 2QFY17, up 22 percent YoY. Oil sales for the company was mainly driven by Petrol sales that were up 32 percent. International Oil prices during 2QFY17 were up 19 percent YoY leading to inventory gains for the company during the quarter, it is estimated. However, the stock led to 33 points decline to the index as the company, contrary to market expectations, announced no dividend for the quarter, Topline Securities reported.

Engro Powergen Qadirpur also announced 4Q2016 financial result reporting net profit of Rs 260 million (EPS Rs 0.8), down 35 percent YoY. Revenue during the same period declined by 2.5 percent YoY to Rs 3.3 billion. For 2016, revenues declined by 14 percent YoY while profit after tax remained flat at Rs1.7 billion. The company also announced final cash dividend of Rs1.5 per share for the quarter in addition to interim dividend of Rs1.5 per share.

TPL Trackers (TPL) notified Pakistan Stock Exchange that the Board of Directors of TPL Life Insurance have approved a right issue of 48 million ordinary shares of the face value of Rs 10 each, aggregating to Rs 480 million, subject to the approval, the Company will be listed on the PSX.

Volumes on Monday decreased to 281 million shares worth Rs 13 billion against 338 million shares worth Rs 18 billion traded on Friday.

Lotte Chemical topped the volume leaders’ list with 42 million shares traded followed by TRG Pakistan 28 million, K-Electric 17 million, Engro Polymer 12 million, and Dost Steels 10 million.

Shares of 422 companies were actively traded at the bourse out of which shares of only 189 companies ended in green, 209 in red, while 28 remained unchanged.