KARACHI:Â The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday recorded a trading volume of more than one billion shares for the first time in 16 years.
According to details, the market achieved another milestone today by recording a trading volume of over 1 billion shares in the regular market (highest in 16 years, and 5th highest overall), whereby Worldcall contributed the most with 369 million shares. The last time one billion shares were traded was on February 23, 2005.
The session was very concentrated in terms of the number of stocks that boosted the huge volume, with WorldCall Telecom Ltd (WTL) alone contributing 37 percent. Another 51pc of the historic volume was driven by only three, and mostly penny, stocks, according to stock strategists.
On the other hand, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) failed to carry forward its positive momentum on the third day of the trading week and ended a volatile session on a negative note on Wednesday.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index swayed both ways on Wednesday, registering its intraday high at 46,845.44 (+170.67 points) and low at 46,341.76 (-333.01 points). It finally settled lower by 30.48 points at 46,644.29.
Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gained 158.68 points to end at 76,284.82, whereas the KSE All Share Index lost 51.32 points, closing at 32,115.37.
The overall market volumes jumped from 663.96 million shares in the previous session to 1.01 billion shares (+52pc). Average traded value, however, declined by 4pc, from $178.1 million to $171.3 million. Worldcall Telecom (WTL +38.89pc), K-Electric Ltd (KEL +2.02pc) and Telecard Ltd (TELE +16.98pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 369.80 million, 106.88 shares and 41.70 million shares, respectively.
Sectors that dragged the benchmark index lower included oil & gas exploration (-62.49 points), banking (-38.70 points) and technology & communication (-23.19 points). Among the companies, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC -22.90 points), Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (MARI -15.61 points) and Systems Ltd (SYS -14.57 points) dented the index the most.
Shedding 1.78pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the oil & gas exploration sector ended as the session’s worst performer, with Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (MARI -2.20pc), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC -1.98pc), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (POL 1.23pc) and Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL 1.29pc) closing in the negative.
On the financial side, MCB Bank Ltd (MCB -0.01pc) posted earnings per share (EPS) of Rs 24.50 in FY20 as against Rs20.23 last year; whereas Cherat Cement Company Ltd (CHCC +5.95pc) declared an EPS of Rs4.22 for the second quarter of FY20 as against Rs1.14 in 2QFY20.
