July 16, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 5, 1423

KARACHI, July 15: Foreign portfolio investment recorded net outflow of Rs470 million or around $8 million in June, figures released by the KSE on Monday showed.

Together with the net outflow of Rs297 million or $5 million in May, foreign investors were net sellers to the extent of Rs767 million or $13 million in two months.

The trend is in marked contrast with that of the first four months of the current calender year, when the market had witnessed a surge in foreign interest in Pakistan equities.

SBP report for the quarter (Jan-March 2002) had acknowledged increase in foreign investors enthusiasm for stocks: “Foreign investment in stock market registered an inflow of $55 million in Q3 (reflecting positive trends in stocks) as compared to an outflow of $61 million during Q3 last year,” the SBP report had said.

According to KSE figures released on Monday, foreigners had purchased 14.2 million shares of the value of Rs220.4 million in June. By contrast, they sold 45.2 million shares of the value of Rs690.5 million.

Analysts said that the foreign portfolio investment trend was quite in line with the market performance.

The KSE had posted stellar performance for nearly four-five months of the current calender year, beating the best of markets and the KSE-100 index had outperformed all the regional indices.

But lethargy seems to have set in, which many analysts now expect to dissipate with the culmination of the holiday season and the advent of August.

Everything rosier for the market is, however, dependent on the developments on the political front.