Media urged to take careful approach to stock market fluctuations

The Ministry of Finance Tuesday termed certain reports, appearing in a section of press over the ebb and flow of the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, as unfortunate for highlighting sharp volatility in the market that damage the interest of the small investors and create uncertainty in the market.

"The role of the media in reporting the ebbs and flows in the market needs to be carefully analysed, particularly in the wake of rumours spread by a section of the media regarding alleged changes in the government's economic team, which sent a wrong signal to the market and damaged the interest of small investors and hurt overall sentiment in the market," said an official statement issued by the Finance Division.

The Ministry noted that it was natural for the market to see a correction after rising sharply by over 50%. "On Monday, the market fell 846 points and on Tuesday the market gained 417 points. These ebbs and flows of the market are driven by sentiments, whereas the fundamentals remain strong and continue to improve," the statement added.

The Ministry also pointed out that after rising by 50% from August 2019 to January 2020, the KSE 100 index had already been named as the top performing market in the world by Bloomberg in December 2019. The improved investor confidence was based on corrective measures taken by the government to reduce the twin deficits.

These measures were also strongly endorsed by Moody's Investor Services in December 2019 with an upgrade in outlook to 'stable' from 'negative'. Foreign portfolio investment in the stock market during the first 6 months of the current fiscal year has also stood at US$ 18.8 million after 4 years of heavy selling by foreign investors.