PakStox Outlook

MSCI Pakistan ended the week mostly in green.  Major gainers were, Interloop over 7%, Engro +5.6%, Hub Power +5.1%, Bank Al Habib +4.7%. Major losers were Systems Ltd down 2.7% after the annual results issue.  TRG declined by 1.5% and Habib Bank by less than 1%. On One-year basis only Systems Ltd and TRG are in red. Systems Ltd has declined by almost 17% in one year while TRG has declined by over 35%.

Foreign corporate portfolio investment in the Pakistan Stock Exchange remained strong. For the week ending March 29, 2024, Foreign Corporates were a net buyer of $4 million. This took their net buying in PSX year to date to over $7.6 million. It means that over 50% of the net buying of foreign corporates at PSX took place this week when the KSE100 Index made its historic high of 67142.

This week ending 29th Mar 2024 the KSE100 Index gained 1853 points rising +2.84%, closing above 67k level.. In this week yesterday, KSE100 Index had its highest close at 67142.

As we celebrate the KSE100 Index reaching another historic high and crossing 67K, closing at 67,142, it is worth remembering that the market capitalization of the hashtag # Pakistan Stock Exchange ( hashtag # PSX ) is now around USD 34 billion. In the middle of 2017, the market capitalization of hashtag # PSX was around USD 95 billion when the hashtag # KSE100 Index crossed above 50K (the hashtag # KSE100 Index closed at 52,869 on May 25, 2017). Imagine the level we have to rise to match our previous historic high, now buried in history. In the meantime, let us just celebrate this historic achievement.

As the KSE100 Index regains its 66k level, which it had reached before mid-December last year, 'Foreign Corporates' net buying stands at only $8 million in these three months to date. In the first month of this year, ‘Foreign Corporates’ were big sellers, managing a net selling of $38 million. Despite this, the strength of the Pakistan Stock Exchange was such that it hardly impacted the index, which remained around 62K. Since then, over the last two months, foreign corporations have reversed gears and become net buyers, accumulating a total of over $46 million. This surge settled the KSE100 Index above the 66k level again yesterday. When the PSX started tumbling after KSE100 Index surpassing the 66k level in mid-December last year, 'Foreign Corporates' were net buyers of over $66 million since the start of 2023. The KSE100 Index began to decline after closing at a historic high of 66,427 on December 12, 2023. Despite this, 'Foreign Corporates' remained net buyer...