Interest in Pakistan stocks surges as 10,000 new investors join in Oct

Pakistan's stock market has seen a remarkable surge in the number of new investors amid a record-breaking rally this year.

During the first four months of the current fiscal year, over 36,268 new investors joined the market, of which 10,001 new Unique Identification Numbers (UINs) were registered in October alone. Of these, 7,943 registrations took place online and 2,058 through the normal process, according to data from National Clearing Company Pakistan Limited.

The total number of active trading accounts has reached 345,290 so far, up from 341,001 in September.

To put the new investor interest into perspective, during the entirety of fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), a total of 26,531 new UINs were registered.

This significant increase in investor registrations can be attributed to Pakistan's improving economic outlook, driven by the policy rate cut from 22 to 15% and high taxes in the real estate sector. Brokers have reported that investors are shifting their money from the real estate sector to the capital market, which is a positive sign for both the economy and the market.

The top 10 cities for investor registrations in October were Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Hyderabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, and Sargodha. In terms of city-wise data, Karachi led the charge with 1,586 new active accounts registered, followed by Lahore with 863, and Islamabad with 367.

The top five brokers for the month were JS Global Capital Limited, AKD Securities Limited, KTrade Securities Limited, Arif Habib Limited, and Muhammad Munir Muhammad Ahmed Khanani.

"This surge in investor registrations is a testament to the growing confidence in the Pakistan Stock Exchange and the economy as a whole. As the market continues to grow and mature, it is likely that even more investors will enter the market, driving growth and development in the years to come," Sheheryar Butt, portfolio manager at Darson Securities, commented.