Karachi Stock Exchange at all-time high as Pakistan financial status upgraded

KARACHI (Web Desk) - KSE-100 Share Index jumped  2% early on Wednesday following an overnight upgrade in the country's status from a frontier to an emerging market. The country's status was upgraded by  global index provider MSCI.

Following a bullish trend, the KSE 100-share Index hovered around 38,284 points at 9:36am, up 2.1% from the start of trading.

“The jovial mood following this re-rating event is expected to reflect in market performance today,” according to Intermarket Securities, a brokerage house.

According to Bloomberg News, the KSE 100-Share Index has already gained 15% this year, making it the best performer in Asia.

Related: KSE declared world’s best-performing stock market

MSCI is a leading provider of international investment decision support tools. Its decision to upgrade the country from its previous status is expected to generate inflows of global portfolio investment amounting to $475 million by the middle of 2017.

MSCI announced last year that Pakistan was on its list for possible reclassification in view of improvements in transparency and liquidity. MSCI made Pakistan a part of the Frontier Markets Index in May 2009 and it has remained as such since then.

Pakistan’s weight in MSCI Frontier Markets Index is about 9% with as many as 16 companies. Its weight in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index will be smaller in percentage terms though. But the reclassification will bring in bigger foreign inflows in absolute terms.

According to Next Capital CEO Najam Ali, most frontier market funds will continue their investment in Pakistan even after its reclassification as an emerging market as long as the improving macroeconomy remains intact.

Read More: Pakistan Stock Exchange closes at record high

Pakistani brokerage houses pin hopes on the market and said the main index was now likely to rise above 40,000 by the end of the year.

In stock terms, Pakistan is now in the same league as other rising economies in the region such as India, Malaysia, and Indonesia.