KARACHI: With Pakistan’s stock market trading at historic levels, its robust performance has benefitted small investors who have earned approximately 80 percent returns on their investments, according to investors and brokers on Wednesday.
The country’s equity market has experienced an unprecedented surge, setting new records at a remarkable pace since June last year, after Pakistan secured a $3 billion short-term bailout program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Within a span of a year, the benchmark KSE100 index has soared by over 85 percent, marking its swiftest recovery witnessed in over two decades. Last week, it breached 75,000 points for the first time in history.
According to stock analysts and brokers, the historic performance of the country’s bourse has been a blessing for people trading in the market, especially small investors.
“They [the small investors] are very happy,” Shahid Ali Habib, CEO of Arif Habib Limited, a Karachi-based brokerage firm, told Arab New. “I think if you ask any small investor today definitely, they are happy because the market has given them 78-79 percent of returns in the last 9-10 months.”
Pakistan was brought back from the brink of sovereign debt default last June, though the IMF loan provided a new lifeline to the country and revitalized the equity market. 
Habib said many retail or small investors who had been put their money in fixed income could not benefit from the recent market performance and had only made 20-22 percent returns.
Despite giving 78-79 percent performance, the stock market still remains attractive in terms of price earning multiple and price to book since the profitability of companies has grown substantially.
“In 2019, our total profitability of all the listed companies was around Rs600-700 billion, but today it is Rs1.4 trillion,” he continued. “So, we have seen a lot of growth in the profitability of the companies, and this is the reason that the price earning multiple is coming down.”
Muhammad Tariq, a broker and investor, agreed the current market performance had made investors happy, but he pointed out not every share has performed well.
“Small investors are happy to some extent, but it’s not the case that every scrip within the 75,000 index has moved,” he said.
Tariq hoped the shares which did not perform well in the past would do better in the coming days to make everyone benefit.
“Some scrips are still stagnant and in the coming days, they too will perform well, because as there is a saying that when it rains, every place gets some drops,” he added.
Abdul Rauf, an investor, said those who were dealing in ready delivery of shares had earned very well and even recovered their losses.
“Small or big investors who dealt in ready deliveries of shares 10-15 days they earned very well, enough to cover their previous losses,” Rauf told Arab news.
However, at historic high levels, Abdul Rauf advised other investors to remain cautious due to high volatility linked with upcoming fiscal budget.
“You should keep your capital flexible so that after June, when the results [of budget] are out, you can start new buying,” he said, adding: “Since the 75,000 mark has been crossed for the first time in Pakistan’s history, a bit of caution is advisable.”
Pakistani analysts said the stock market’s continued performance would be contingent on the outcome of talks between Pakistan and the IMF along with economic improvement including easing of the inflationary pressure.
“The flurry of activity in Pakistan’s stock market reflects a surge of enthusiasm and optimism among investors,” Topline Security said in its report las week. “The index could reach 87,000 by December 2024 and 106,000 by June 2025.”
Amid high trading at higher level, analysts advised small investors to take a long-term investment view to make decent returns on equity investment instead of other asset classes.
“I think for a small- to medium-term investor, if they take a year to two-year view in making investment in the equity market, then definitely they can make decent returns compared to other asset classes,” Habib said, adding the investors could get 25-30 percent of annualized return if they took a long-term view of the situation.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan men’s cricket team will take on England in the first of the four-match T20I series at Headingley today, Wednesday, in what is expected to be an exciting match ahead of next month’s World Cup.
The last T20I meeting between Pakistan and England took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. England edged past Pakistan by five wickets in the close encounter with Sam Curran earning the Player of the Final award for his figures of three for 12.
A full-strength Pakistan cricket team is expected to take the field at Headingley on Wednesday at the back of a 2-1 series win against Ireland in Dublin last week. Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi snapped up the Player of the Match awards in the two victories.
Pakistan men’s white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten also joined the side on 19 May for the first assignment of his two-year tenure.
“I am confident that Pakistan will carry the winning momentum from the Ireland series into the England T20Is. Our 2-1 victory in Dublin showcased the brilliance of our batters and bowlers, while also providing us with learnings as we aim to work on our areas of improvement,” said Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, the most successful captain in T20Is with 46 wins.
“We’ve had productive training sessions at Headingley and with head coach Gary Kirsten linking up with the squad, we are focused on fine-tuning our strategies and combinations for the four T20Is against England and T20 World Cup,” he added.
England dominate the T20I rivalry with 19 wins to Pakistan’s nine triumphs, while one game ended as a no-result. England were the winners of the previous bilateral series against Pakistan, clinching the seven T20Is played in Lahore and Karachi 4-3.
Series schedule:
22 May – v England, 1st T20I, Leeds
25 May – v England, 2nd T20I, Birmingham
28 May – v England 3rd T20I, Cardiff
30 May – v England, 4th T20I, The Oval