KARACHI: Even though the benchmark of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) dropped 5.13 per cent in the first three quarters of 2021-22, it still fared better than the MSCI Emerging Market Index, an international equity yardstick that captures the aggregate performance of 24 comparable markets.

According to the Economic Survey 2021-22 released on Thursday, the decline in the MSCI index was 16.9pc while that in the Shanghai Composite was 9.43 during the same nine-month period. The Jakarta Composite Index posted the highest growth of 18.1pc while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 23.7pc over the same period.

However, the drop in the KSE-100 index comes out at 11.8pc when calculated through June 9.

The survey attributed the poor performance of stocks to the Russian-Ukraine conflict and domestic political uncertainty.

Calling it “the major development” of 2021-22, the survey hailed the five initial public offerings on the exchange’s main board in addition to two listings on the newly introduced Growth Enterprise Market counter of the PSX.

The number of companies listed remained flat at 532 on a year-on-year basis. Market capitalisation or the total value of shares amounted to Rs7.58 trillion at the end of March, down 8.6pc from the beginning of 2021-22.

Investors suffered paper losses to the tune of Rs714 billion in the nine months under review. Sector-wise, refineries suffered the biggest loss in their market capitalisation in percentage terms (54.9pc). The combined value of shares in the Modaraba sector, however, grew at the highest pace (65pc). As for debt securities, as many as 32 issues took place in the nine-month period, helping raise a total of Rs121.5bn.

Published in Dawn,June 10th, 2022