Pakistan’s weight is likely to remain around 0.02 percent in MSCI EM in the MSCI May 2021 Semi Annual Index Review, experts said.
MSCI will be releasing the results of the MSCI May 2021 Semi-Annual Index Review on May 11, 2021.
Announcement is expected to be made available shortly after 11pm Central European Summer Time (CEST), ie, 02am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) on May 12, 2021. All changes will be made as of the close of May 28, 2021.
There is some chatter in the market regarding possible inclusion of Lucky Cement (LUCK) in the main index. “However, we do not expect any deletions or additions of constituents in MSCI Pakistan Index under MSCI Global Standard Indexes”, Syed Atif Zafar, Director Research and Chief Economist at Topline Securities said. LUCK is unlikely to meet free float capitalization requirement of over $750 million, he added.
The existing constituents are Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), MCB Bank (MCB) and Habib Bank (HBL).
“Under the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes, we highlight the possibility of inclusion of TRG Pakistan (TRG) whereas Packages Limited (PKGS) may see possible deletion,” he said.
Pakistan has been part of MSCI Emerging Market (EM) owing to the Index Continuity Rule since May-2019.
“However, we do not expect any developments with respect to Pakistan’s exclusion from MSCI EM”, Atif Zafar said. “We estimate Pakistan’s weight is likely to remain around 0.02 percent,” he added.
