A healthy inflow of $19.943 million in foreign investors'' portfolio investment (FIPI) was witnessed at the equity market during the current month. According to the National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCP) data, the cumulative inflow of this mode of investment increased to $337.108 million in the period from January 1 to date.
The offshore investors remained net buyers of shares worth $5.166 million during the week ended on September 24, 2010. Despite deteriorating economic situation after worst ever floods in the country, the foreign investors'' interest continued and they opted to take fresh positions on available attractive levels, analysts said.
The offshore investors'' interest was witnessed in some select stocks in oil, banking, fertiliser and cement sectors. Against this, local investors'' remained net sellers due to their concerns over the prevailing economic situation. The unavailability of any leverage product at the equity market was another reason that forced the local investors to offload their holdings or to remain at the sideline. Due to low participation of local retail investors, trading drastically declined at the share market.