Daily Times

In a positive development, Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Inc., in its results of the February 2024 index review, announced the addition of 22 Pakistani companies as constituents on its Frontier Market (FM) Index and FM Small Cap Indexes.

The changes will take place as of close on February 29, 2024, it said.

MSCI added three Pakistani companies on its Frontier Market Index. The list features Bank Al Habib Limited, Interloop Limited, and Sui North Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).

In the MSCI FM Small Cap indexes, 19 Pakistani companies have been added, stated MSCI in the note.

This includes, Adamjee Insurance Company, Agritech Limited, Aisha Steel Mills, Askari Bank Limited, Century Paper & Board, Ferozesons Laboratories, Ghandhara Industries, Ghani Glass Limited, Hascol Petroleum Limited, IGI Holdings, JS Bank Limited, Murree Brewery, Nishat Chunian, Pakistan Cables, Pakistan Stock Exchange, Service Global Footwear, Sui Southern Gas Company, Treet Corp and Worldcall Telecom.

Meanwhile, four Pakistani companies have been deleted from the MSCI FM Small Cap indexes.

This includes, BankIslami Pakistan Limited, Fauji Cement Company Limited, Pak Suzuki Motor Co, and Sui North Gas Pipelines.

It is pertinent to share that the total number of constituents in the MSCI Pakistan Frontier Market Small Cap index is 56.

“After this review, Pakistan’s weight in the Index is expected to be around 3%,”said Topline Securities in a report. “Due to this adjustment, we anticipate some net flows, although the quantum will not be significant,” it added.

In September 2021, Pakistan was downgraded from its status as an emerging market, a little over four years after it was reclassified from the Frontier Markets (FM) Index by MSCI.

The MSCI had said then that while the Pakistani equity market meets the requirements for market accessibility under the classification framework for Emerging Markets, it no longer meets the standards for size and liquidity.