According to Pakistan’s leading brokerage house, Topline Securities, 2022 was also a turbulent year for global stock markets as US$18 trillion were wiped out in 2022 with drop of approx 20% in MSCI World Index which is worst performance since the 2008 crisis. MSCI EM fell 22%, while MSCI FM was down 29% in 2022.
According to Bloomberg data, Pakistan’s KSE-100 Index was amongst worst performing market in US$ term in 2022.
Due to macroeconomic issues, activity at PSX also remained dull. Average traded volume (ready/cash) per day at PSX was down 52% to 230 million shares/day.
Similarly, average traded value per day was down 59% to PKR7 billion/day which was lowest since 2019.
In futures market, total traded volume and value per day were also down by 33% and 56% to 94 million shares and PKR3.6 billion, respectively.
KSE-100 Index also underperformed as compared to other asset classes in 2022 including Gold (+45%), one-year US$ denominated Naya Pakistan Certificate (+36%) and greenback (+28%).
T-Bills, Money Market Fund and Property indices posted return in the range of 12% to 14% in 2022.
Initial public offering (IPO) market was also impacted due to eroding equity values as only 3 IPOs raised funds in 2022 as against 8 IPOs in 2021. The number of IPOs was also the lowest in 2019 when Pakistan saw just one IPO at PSX.
Selling by foreigners continued in 2022 with net selling of US$127 million. In last 7-years, foreign corporates have sold shares worth of US$2.5 billion at PSX.
Local Mutual Funds and Insurance Companies also trimmed their position in 2022, with Mutual Funds selling US$166 million, while Insurance Companies sold US$128 million.
Selling was absorbed by Local Individuals, Banks and Companies with net buying of US$138 million, US$117 million, and US$78 million respectively.
