The much anticipated visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and approval of the International Monetary Fund’s sixth tranche and above all the return of foreign buyers put the stock markets on an upward trajectory in April as the KSE-100 index gained more than 3700 points during the month. However, it could not come up to expectations due to main events that took place and saw a weak-ending in the last week.
The visit of the Chinese President to Pakistan, the signing of various MOUs by both the countries, investment friendly policies of the government and induction of more companies at the stock exchange have created positive impacts on Pakistan’s stock 
exchange which is now on the highest level of its history. Moreover, investment in the share market is now attracting more people after the reduction in the profit of banks.
The Karachi Stock Exchange was established in 1947 with a capital of Rs100 million with five companies on board. Currently, the number of enlisted companies is 561, having Rs1181 billion investment volumes. The Karachi Stock Exchange is among the ten best performing markets of the world, having 77 billion dollars market capitalization with 49 percent growth rate since 2012. About 500 Pakistani companies yield the highest dividends to their share holders, which is also a world record.
It can be safely said that the Pakistani bourse is playing a positive role in the economic activities in the country. However, it cannot be considered as an economic indicator.
KSE-100 index witnessed a very unfruitful month of March. However, it rebounded 
sharply after the streak of foreign selling came to an end, resulting in the benchmark KSE-100 index climbing 1,456 points or 4.9 percent during the week ending April 3.
The index managed to recover most of its losses from the previous week, when it fell 1,842 points due to panic selling. One of the most crucial reasons was foreigners being the net buyers. After, remaining net sellers, for almost two months, foreigners returned to buying and were net buyers of 4.1 million dollars worth of equity as compared to net selling of 15 million dollars in the previous week.
Another factor behind boosting confidence of investors was the approval of the International Monetary Fund’s sixth tranche for Pakistan. And the attractive valuations post last week’s free fall brought local investors to invest heavily in the bourse.
Though the bourse managed to end the week with an astounding gain of 1,456 points, it had started off with a disastrous opening day as the KSE-100 fell more than 1,000 points as panic selling resumed and the index fell as low as 28,648 at one stage. But the next day was of the gainers as the index rallied and gained 1,306 points in the best single day performance in the bourse’s history. By the end of the week, the index had completed the turnaround close at 31,413 points.
Another sentiment booster was the inflation number for the month of March which clocked in at a mere 2.49 percent and increased speculation about another discount rate cut in the next Monitory Policy Statement by the State Bank of Pakistan. The news led to buying in highly-leveraged stocks, while proving to be somewhat of a dampener for the banking sector. However, despite the risk of another discount rate cut, the banking sector was the star performer of the week after having taken a severe beating in recent months due to the plummeting discount rate. Three of the country’s largest banks- MCB, UBL and NBP alone contributed 385 points to the index’s gains for the week. On the other hand, the oil and gas sector performed poorly and knocked off 162 points.
During the second week ending on the 10th of April, the Karachi Stock Exchange followed up on last week’s bull run by gaining another 3 percent behind positive macro and corporate catalysts to close at 32,351 points. The KSE-100 index closed at 32,351 by gaining 937 points.
The gains came on the back of strong performances from the oil and gas, fertiliser and cement sectors as investors rushed in to buy shares at attractive valuations. The week also saw the beginning of Habib Bank’s Secondary Public Offering (SPO), which received an overwhelming response from investors.
The week also started off on a positive note which coincided with the revelation of the International Monetary Fund’s detailed report on Pakistan’s economy which posted a positive picture and highlighted strong progress and political stability.
The third week ending on the 17th of April also saw the upward trend as the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) market uptrend continued as oil stocks joined the party and the KSE-100 index closed at 33,234.73 by gaining 884 points or 2.7 percent.
The week started off on a quiet note as foreign and institutional selling in the opening couple of days kept investors nervy. However, towards the end of the week, increasing crude oil prices, activity in the banking sector and an interview by the finance minister kicked off a buying spree which resulted in the index climbing 1,125 points in the final three days to close at 33,234 on Friday.
The oil and gas sector was the lead performer as global crude oil prices hit their 2015 peak during the week. Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) led the gains with its share price climbing 9.3 percent, while Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL) and the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) followed close behind with a 7.5 percent and 5.7 percent gain, respectively.
Similarly, the banking sector also witnessed strong activity after the government successfully liquidated its holding in HBL after receiving bids of 1.6 billion dollars compared to its offer of 1.02 billion dollars. The divestment was called a credit positive by Moody’s and sparked activity in the entire sector. MCB Bank and UBL also contributed 70 and 68 points respectively to the index’s gains while the sector as a whole added 232 points to the KSE-100’s gains.
Another highlight of the week was the finalisation of the Chinese President’s visit to Pakistan.
Foreigners also contributed the rally as heavy buying was witnessed towards the end of the week. Foreigners purchased a net of 7.5 million dollars during the week and the inflow provided another reason to cheer to local investors.
The bourse continued its upward trajectory, looking set to climb to new highs after the benchmark KSE-100 index posted gains of 541 points or 1.6 percent to close at 33,775 during the week ending April 24.
The gains came on the back of a landmark visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping to the country and an onslaught of market-beating corporate results which created excitement at the bourse. Impressive macroeconomic data and foreign buying also lifted market sentiments.
The week started off on a positive note with the Chinese President announcing an investment of more than 46 billion dollars in the country aimed at solving Pakistan’s energy crisis and building infrastructure to connect China with the port city of Gwadar.
With the earnings season in full flow, sector-specific activity kicked in with the banking sector leading the way providing the biggest boost to the market.
Similarly, the cement, fertiliser and automotive sectors were also in the limelight after posting impressive results.
A major concern for local investors was also alleviated with foreigners continuing to be net buyers at the bourse. Foreigners purchased a net of 7.7 million dollars worth of equity, following up on the 7.5 million dollars buying in the previous week.
Despite being a 30-day month, April saw five weeks of activities on the Karachi Stock Exchange. The market was volatile during the week with half of the trading sessions closing in the red, due to worsening local sentiment. KSE-100 index closed at 33,730 by losing 45 points or 0.13 during the week ending on the 30th of April, while the remaining day of the week, the 1st of May was a public holiday on account of Labour Day.
One of the major features of the week was the long-awaited Secondary Public Offering (SPO) of Engro Fertilizers at the floor price of Rs75 per share through private placement. Despite the interest in the SPO of 93 million shares, Engro fell short of expectations.
Apart from this, the news of suspension of trading in KASB Bank shares authorised by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) kept the investors away.
With the earnings season in full swing, positive results came from Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and MCB Bank on the back of an exceptional growth in the net interest income. Indus Motor also came up with encouraging results, driven by a surge in margins. Additionally, Yamaha’s announcement to invest Rs 5.3 billion in a new plant by 2020 triggered investor interest.
Foreigners bought shares valuing 85.1 million dollars and sold stocks worth 63.5 million dollars, with net buying of 21.6 million dollars.
In month of May, according to analysts and experts, Pakistani stock market may reach another height after the latest report of The Economist regarding Pakistan’s economy.
In the month of May also, foreign buyers remained on the forefront. However, the equity market could not keep the momentum gained during April.
May always remains volatile for the bourse as most players square their position mostly 
because of the budget to be announced during first week of June. The stock market lost more than 1120 points during the first three weeks of the month despite a handsome investment by foreign investors.
The Karachi Stock Exchange extended its corrective phase in the week of the month, falling another 0.6 percent to close at 33,530 points. The KSE-100 index closed on 33,530 by losing 200 points. Foreigners were net buyers, with 12.2 million dollars inflow.
During the second week of May, the KSE remained in the doldrums throughout the week as the market lost 1,236 points at the very first trading day. The KSE-100 index closed at 33,039 by losing 491 points. During the outgoing week, local mutual funds were major net sellers of 29.5 million dollars.\Foreigners and local banks were major net buyers of 6.1 million dollars and 15.8 million dollars respectively.
The third week on the Karachi Stock Exchange also remained sluggish as the market lost 433.58 points to close at 32,606 points. During the week, mutual funds were again the net sellers with a net outflow of 24.9 million dollars against an outflow of 29.5 million dollars in the last week.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced its Monetary Policy for the next two months. In this, The State Bank cuts interest rates to a historic 42-year low of 7 percent. Rumors related to changes in capital gains tax regime and imposition of tax on inward remittances is considered as a major threat.
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate