MSCI Releases Results of May 2021 Semi-Annual Index Review

Morgan Stanely Capital International (MSCI) has released the results of the MSCI May 2021 Semi-Annual Index Review The MSCI has deleted the Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC) from its emerging market (EM) index and has replaced it with Lucky Cement Limited (LUCK). In total, MSCI has added only one more security and deleted four securities for Pakistan among the Asia Pacific countries. ALSO READ Cotton Imports Rise 46% as Local Production Falls Drastically Additionally, in the small index category, MSCI added TRG and removed Indus Motor Company Limited (INDU), LUCK, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), and Packages Limited (PKGS). Pakistan now has a weight of 0.023 percent as compared to the previous 0.016 percent. Pakistan’s weightage in the small-cap index has also been revised to 0.379 percent. The Brokerage and Investment firm, Arif Habib Limited, released a report on these shifts in the MSCI categorization and said that it estimates nearly $39.65 million in inflows to LUCK (6.89 million shares at the last closing price, and estimates outflows of $16.69 million (27.48 million shares at last closing price) for the OGDC. ALSO READ Govt to Officially Regulate Poultry: Minister Regarding the case of the small-cap flow, the report said that it estimates outflows of $3.78 million from the NBP, $4 million from INDU, and $3.46 million from PKGS. A total of $29.18 million is expected as net inflow from the standard index in Pakistan as compared to a total inflow of $6.22 million from the small-cap index, the report said. Despite the overall bullish trend on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) through most of the current calendar year, the Foreign Investors Portfolio Investment (FIPI) continued to see outflow. From January 1, 2021, until May 10 – the last trading session before the Eid holidays, the foreign investors have withdrawn $32.352 million from the Pakistan capital market. However, despite these foreign investors remaining on the selling side, the total outflow is still less than the outflows recorded for the same time period last year, at $225.033 million (from January 1, 2020, to May 10, 2020)