Monthly review: KSE-100 sheds 9.2% in August

KARACHI:

The stock market’s benchmark 100-share index plummeted by 9.2 per cent in August on a monthly basis, making it the worst Ramazan in terms of market decline.

However, this was not the greatest decline in August as the index dropped as low as 13% in 2008, according to an InvestCap research note.

The decline was primarily driven by the severe value wipe-off in global equities amid US and eurozone debt crisis followed by rating downgrades and the possible knock-on effects on local equities, adds the note. Dent on market returns was further deepened by the political violence in Karachi during the month.

In the regional context, Pakistan equities stood third after South Korea and India in terms of most negative return-yielding markets in the Asia-Pacific region with an 11 per cent decline against the region’s average of 8.5%.

Moreover, foreign fund outflows were worth only $11.6 million in the local market against regional outflows of $8.5 billion in August.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th,  2011.