Closing Bell: Ups and Downs

September 30, 2020 (MLN): The KSE-100 index continued following a zig-zag trajectory today as well, as it lost 632.88 points on Wednesday and closed at 40-573.48 i.e. 1.54 percent lower as compared to the closing of the previous session.

The market opened on a positive note but soon lost momentum when investors turned towards profit-taking. The sentiments of the investors took a further hit on the back of rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Besides, several companies announced their financial results for the period ended June 30, 2020, with most of them reporting losses owing to the disruption in activities caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. The summaries of the results are as follows:

• Pioneer Cement Limited declared losses of Rs. 209.6 million (LPS: 0.92) for the year ended June 30, 2020, as compared to the earnings of Rs. 790.3 million (EPS: 3.48) recorded last year.
• Ghandhara Industries Limited showed a Loss after tax of Rs. 1.28 billion (LPS: 30.11) for the year, as opposed to profit of Rs. 60.09 million (EPS: 1.41) recorded last year.
• Silk Bank Limited witnessed a whopping 16x increased in net profits to Rs 1.88 billion for the six months ended on June 30, 2020, as compared to the profits of Rs 116.8 million recorded in the corresponding period of last year.
• Azgard Nine Limited reported a net loss of Rs 389 million (LPS: Rs 0.84) for the year, as compared to the net profit of Rs 305 million (EPS: Rs 0.67) recorded in FY19.

The Index traded in a range of 943.43 points or 2.29 percent of the previous close, showing an intraday high of 41,438.33 and a low of 40,494.90.

Of the 95 traded companies in the KSE-100 Index, 15 closed up 78 closed down, while 3 remained unchanged. The total volume traded for the index was 336.69 million shares.

Sector-wise, the index was let down by Commercial Banks with 89 points, Cement with 82 points, Fertilizer with 71 points, and Oil and Gas Marketing companies with 56 points.

The most points taken off the index was by SYS which stripped the index of 18 points followed by KOHC with 16 points, HCAR with 11 points, and ATRL with 10 points.

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