Weekly Market Roundup

March 20, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan’s equity market remained under pressure during the outgoing week, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at 152,740.38, compared to 153,866.17 recorded on March 13, 2026.

The index shed 1,125.79 points over the week, translating into a decline of 0.73% week-on-week (WoW).

Investor sentiment weakened as global oil and gas prices surged, driven by fresh attacks on critical energy infrastructure in the Middle East, pushing crude prices sharply higher to around $116 per barrel. The spike in energy prices prompted cautious trading and broad-based selling across key sectors.

Market Capitalization

Market capitalization also declined in line with the benchmark index. The total listed market cap fell to Rs4.43 trillion on March 19, 2026, compared to Rs4.51tr recorded on March 13, 2026, marking a contraction of Rs79.34bn or 1.76% WoW.

In dollar terms, total market capitalization declined by $280.61m, reaching $15.87bn compared to $16.15bn in the previous week.

Meanwhile, dollar-adjusted returns stood at negative 0.71%, compared to negative 2.27% in the prior week, suggesting that the pace of decline slowed relative to the previous week’s sharper drop.

On the macroeconomic front, Automobile financing, as per State Bank of Pakistan data, rose to Rs336.61bn in February 2026, up 2.62% MoM and 35.28% YoY.

While total consumer financing increased 19.46% YoY to Rs1.04tr with a 1.8% monthly gain; private sector credit also grew 13.58% YoY to Rs10.61tr, driven mainly by gains in manufacturing, alongside moderate increases in housing and personal loans.

Pakistan’s LSM sector showed strong growth in January 2026, with output rising 10.54% YoY and 12.08% MoM, taking cumulative FY26 growth to 5.75%.

Pakistan’s Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) fell 0.74% to 102.54 in February 2026, while the Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) declined 0.50%, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.

Despite the monthly drop, REER edged up 0.28% YoY, whereas NEER fell 3.72% annually.

Pakistan’s FDI rose to $213.5m in February 2026 from $132.7m last year, driven by higher inflows, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. However, cumulative FDI in 8MFY26 declined to $1.19bn compared to $1.79bn last year.

Pakistan posted a current account surplus of $427m in February, driven by steady remittances, though the 8MFY26 cumulative current account shows a $700 million deficit amid higher imports and a widening trade gap.

Index Movers

Sector-wise performance remained largely negative, reflecting continued pressure across major segments of the market.

Commercial banks emerged as the largest drag on the benchmark, wiping out 514.86 index points, followed by investment banks and securities companies (-341.42 points) and fertilizer (-254.92 points).

Power generation and distribution (-84.97 points), insurance (-73.92 points), miscellaneous (-66.15 points), and automobile assemblers (-56.47 points) also contributed to the downside.

Other notable laggards included textile composite, refineries, engineering, cement, and pharmaceuticals, highlighting the broad-based nature of the decline.

On the positive side, oil and gas exploration companies provided the largest support to the index, adding 279.32 points.

Technology and communication contributed 75.52 points, followed by automobile parts (21.08 points), paper and packaging (16.13 points), and cable and electrical goods (12.69 points).

Additional support came from oil marketing companies, synthetic and rayon, property, REITs, and food and personal care sectors, though gains remained limited compared to the broader losses.

At the company level, select stocks managed to lend support to the index.

Among the gainers, MCB added 196.95 points, followed by UBL (162.87 points) and SYS (122.19 points).

Other notable positive contributors included PPL (100.17 points), OGDC (79.24 points), POL (70.78 points), ABOT (61.27 points), and MLCF (48.74 points).

Additional support came from KOHC, AKBL, PSO, MARI, and THALL.

Despite these gains, the benchmark remained under pressure due to heavy losses in several large-cap stocks.

NBP emerged as the largest drag on the index, wiping out 470.92 points, followed by ENGROH (-301.97 points) and HBL (-289.57 points).

Other major negative contributors included FFC (-203.80 points), HUBC (-91.99 points), SRVI (-85.62 points), AICL (-73.92 points), and LUCK (-59.13 points).

Further pressure came from EFERT, BAHL, HMB, DGKC, and BAFL, reflecting continued selling in index-heavy sectors, particularly banking and fertilizer.

FIPI / LIPI

Foreign investment flows continued to weigh on the market during the week.

Under Foreign Portfolio Investment (FIPI), foreign investors remained net sellers with an outflow of $9.94m.

The majority of the selling came from foreign corporates, which offloaded $10.82m worth of equities.

Meanwhile, overseas Pakistanis provided buying support of $0.88m, while foreign individuals remained largely neutral.

On the other hand, local investors absorbed the entire foreign outflow, resulting in a matching net inflow of $9.94m under Local Portfolio Investment (LIPI).

Among local participants, banks and DFIs emerged as the largest buyers with net purchases of $9.47m, followed by individuals ($3.65m) and companies ($1.95m).

Insurance companies and other organizations also recorded modest inflows.

Meanwhile, mutual funds recorded the largest selling with an outflow of $4.67m, followed by broker proprietary trading desks ($1.20m), while NBFCs remained marginal buyers.

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