After a disappointing September, investors covered much of the months losses by gains in October. The benchmark index finished 6.1 percent in the green (at 34,261.61 points) for the recently concluded month, following a 7 percent drop in September. Investors were relieved by the markets performance in October - some positivity after two consecutive months of decline.
Strong quarterly results guided stock prices upwards in the last couple of weeks, but bulk of the recovery was prompted by the buy-on-dips opportunity, created by the recent correction. Spurred by weakness in global economic growth engine - China, bourses around the world saw turmoil, which spilled over to Pakistan in the shape of foreign selling.
October was fourth straight month of overseas investors lowering their shareholding in the KSE. Net foreign selling amounted to US$ 48.2 million in the month - more than double that of September. Since July, FIPIs net selling has been over US$ 150 million.
The counterweight to foreign selling was provided by mutual funds, which had a net long position of US$ 44.1 million in October, as opposed to a net selling position of US$ 18.3 million in the month before. Companies and NBFCs were also net buyers in the period under consideration.
Sectors
In a complete reversal of Septembers trading activity, all sector indices finished in green in October. Investment banking stocks were the strongest - rallying nearly 14 percent in the month, followed by Oil & Gas Sector (11.2 percent) and Automobile sector (9.5 percent).
Septembers top dogs - Insurance and Refinery - were amongst the worst performers in October, managing 1.2 percent and 2.4 percent growth respectively. Similar is true for Octobers best performers - which finished September with some of the highest losses.
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