Weekly Market Roundup

May 22, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan's equity market staged a recovery during the week ended May 22, 2026, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index closing at 167,844.25, compared to 165,596.07 recorded on May 15, 2026.

The index gained 2,248.18 points, translating into a 1.36% week-on-week (WoW) gain, as positive global cues, declining oil prices, and improved investor sentiment fueled broad-based buying activity across the market.

Market Capitalization

Total market capitalization recovered in line with the benchmark index performance. As of May 22, 2026, market capitalization stood at Rs4.801 trillion, compared to Rs4.737tr on May 15, 2026, marking an increase of Rs64.27bn or 1.36% WoW.

In USD terms, market capitalization rose to $17.24bn from $17.00bn in the previous week, showing a gradual recovery in overall market value on the back of broad-based buying interest.

Dollar-adjusted returns also turned positive, clocking in at 1.39% WoW, compared to negative 3.19% in the prior week, indicating improving investor returns in both local and foreign currency terms.

On the macroeconomic front, Pakistan’s banking spread widened to 690bps in April 2026 as lending rates outpaced deposit returns, while real deposit rates remained negative amid persistent inflation.

Despite a slight increase in deposit rates to 4.85%, savers continued to face erosion in purchasing power as inflation kept real returns below zero.

Pakistan’s automobile financing climbed to Rs359.58bn in April 2026, marking a 36.6% YoY surge despite high borrowing costs and persistent pressure on consumer auto demand.

Pakistan’s net foreign direct investment plunged to $54.5 million in April 2026, sharply down from $178.8 million a year earlier amid rising foreign outflows and weaker investor inflows.

Pakistan’s REER climbed to 105.8 in April 2026, showing a decline in trade competitiveness as the rupee strengthened in real terms against major trading partner currencies.

Pakistan’s current account posted a deficit of $324m in April 2026 as a sharp surge in imports widened the trade gap despite strong remittance inflows.

Index Movers

Sector-wise, the recovery was broad-based and led by index-heavy sectors.

Commercial banks emerged as the largest positive contributor to the benchmark index, adding 1,109.13 points amid strong buying in major banking names. Fertilizer stocks contributed 646.30 points to the index, while oil & gas exploration companies added 219.17 points during the week.

Cement stocks contributed 198.78 points, followed by power generation & distribution (+168.88 points), technology & communication (+151.48 points), leather & tanneries (+132.36 points), food & personal care products (+32.06 points), cable & electrical goods (+10.66 points), pharmaceuticals (+4.02 points),

Sugar & allied industries (+3.33 points), synthetic & rayon (+2.43 points), and modarabas (+2.31 points), reflecting the broad-based nature of the market recovery.

On the negative side, investment banks/investment companies/securities companies remained the largest drag on the benchmark index, erasing 100.87 points, followed by automobile assemblers (-81.00 points), oil & gas marketing companies (-41.44 points), textile composite (-34.93 points), and insurance (-23.78 points).

Additional negative contributions came from refinery (-22.52 points), miscellaneous (-20.84 points), textile spinning (-18.84 points), tobacco (-16.61 points), paper, board & packaging (-13.43 points), real estate investment trust (-13.23 points), engineering (-11.55 points), transport (-9.55 points), chemical (-9.04 points),

Property (-8.85 points), close-end mutual fund (-3.06 points), glass & ceramics (-1.43 points), automobile parts & accessories (-1.11 points), vanaspati & allied industries (-0.45 points), textile weaving (-0.09 points), woollen (-0.06 points), and leasing companies (-0.05 points), indicating pockets of persistent weakness.

Scrip-wise, the upside was dominated by heavyweight banking, fertilizer, and energy stocks.

United Bank Limited emerged as the largest positive contributor, lifting the index by 752.20 points, followed by Fauji Fertilizer Company (+528.44 points), HUBCO (+190.45 points), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (+184.65 points), and Bank AL Habib (+145.99 points).

Other major gainers included Pakistan Telecommunication Company (+140.41 points), Service Industries (+132.36 points), Engro Fertilizers (+104.82 points), National Bank of Pakistan (+103.23 points), MCB Bank (+88.88 points), Lucky Cement (+67.29 points), Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan (+46.35 points),

Oil & Gas Development Company (+39.69 points), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan (+35.46 points), DG Khan Cement (+35.30 points), and Sui Northern Gas (+34.59 points), showing renewed confidence in blue-chip names.

Additional positive contributions came from AGP Limited, Habib Bank Limited, Fauji Cement, POWER Cement, Pioneer Cement, Fatima Fertilizer, Cherat Cement, Kohat Cement, Askari Bank, Systems Limited, Pak Elektron, TGL, Kohat Textile, Indus Motor, Air Link Communication,

Maple Leaf Cement, Haleon Pakistan, Mari Petroleum, and Rafhan Maize Products, reflecting broad-based buying across banking, fertilizer, cement, technology, and energy sectors.

On the downside, losses remained concentrated in investment companies, automobile assemblers, and oil marketing stocks.

Engro Holdings emerged as the largest negative contributor, dragging the index by 103.05 points, followed by Pakistan State Oil (-64.00 points), Millat Tractors (-56.84 points), Sazgar Engineering Works (-40.20 points), and Bank Alfalah (-29.77 points).

Other notable laggards included Habib Metropolitan Bank (-23.90 points), Adamjee Insurance (-23.78 points), GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan (-23.53 points), Mehmood Textile (-21.98 points), Cnergyico PK (-20.64 points), Gadoon Textile (-18.84 points), Pakistan Tobacco (-16.61 points),

PSEL (-17.67 points), NML (-15.60 points), Packages Limited (-13.43 points), LCI (-12.88 points), Bank of Punjab (-11.59 points), KEL (-11.58 points), GHGL (-11.25 points), BWCL (-10.98 points), NPL (-10.47 points),

TRG Pakistan (-9.42 points), and Treet Corporation (-9.55 points), highlighting residual pressure in oil marketing, automobile, insurance, and pharmaceutical segments.

FIPI/LIPI

Foreign investors turned net sellers during the week, with total net foreign selling in the equity segment standing at Rs3.94bn ($14.15m).

Within foreign flows, foreign corporates recorded heavy net selling of Rs4.09bn ($14.69m), only partially offset by net buying from overseas Pakistanis amounting to Rs145.16m ($520,549). Foreign individuals remained marginal net buyers at Rs6.08m ($21,856).

On the local side, insurance companies emerged as the largest net buyers with inflows of Rs3.73bn, followed by individuals at Rs1.03bn, banks/DFIs at Rs855.01m, and NBFCs at Rs72.73m.

Meanwhile, broker proprietary trading remained the largest net seller, offloading equities worth Rs836.98m, followed by companies with net selling of Rs716.99m.

Other organizations and mutual funds also remained net sellers, offloading Rs117.57m and Rs76.51m respectively during the week.

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