KARACHI: Pakistan stocks stormed to an all-time high on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 index showed a massive gain of 1,084 points, or 2.18 per cent, to close at 50,936 points.

The spectacular rally was fuelled by the investors’ enthusiasm over the upgrade of the Pakistan stock exch­ange to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Emerging Market Index on June 1.

Pakistan equity index was a part of the MSCI emerging market index, but the crash of 2008 prompted the market regulators to shut the exit door for the foreign investors, which did not find favour with the MSCI that relegated the KSE-100 to a junior ‘Frontier Market’.

“The investors at the Pakistan stock market are expecting an inflow of $200-$400 million following the KSE-100 index reclassification to the MSCI EM,” said former PSX chairman Arif Habib.

The PSX also hit another milestone on Monday as its market capitalisation crossed over the Rs10 trillion mark.

Pragmatists believed that the euphoria was carrying the stock prices into uncharted territories. But the market was flush with liquidity. “With no place to park the money, given the dismal returns provided by banks and a stagnating commodity and property market, investors’ rush to the equity market is understandable” said a major stockbroker.

The Pakistan equity market stood out as the best performing market in Asia with a return of 46pc last year.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2017