The PakistanStock Exchange is a stock exchange in Pakistan with trading floors in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. PSX was reclassified as a MSCIEmerging Market in May 2017, while the FTSE classifies PSX as a Secondary Emerging Market. The PSX was established on 11 January 2016 after the merger of the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad stock exchanges. PSX's origins were laid with the establishment of the Karachi Stock Exchange in 1947, the Lahore Stock Exchange in 1970 and the Islamabad Stock Exchange in 1992. As of 26 July 2020 there were about 540 companies listed in PSX and the total market capitalisation was. The investors on the exchanges include 1,886 foreign institutional investors and 883 domestic institutional investors along with about 0.22 million retail investors. There are also about 400 brokerage houses which are members of the PSX as well as 21 asset management companies. One of the PSX's precursor stock exchanges, the Karachi Stock Exchange, was listed among the world's best performing frontier stock markets: between 2009 and 2015 it delivered 26% a year. However, in 2019 Bloomberg claimed that the PSX was the 'world's worst', having erased 'half their market value'. In December 2016, PSX sold 40% strategic shares to a Chinese consortium for US$85 million.
History
The Pakistan Stock Exchange came into existence in January 2016 when the Government of Pakistan decided to merge the three large exchange markets of the country into one combined market.
Karachi Stock Exchange
Founded on 18 September 1947, Karachi Stock Exchange Limited was registered in Pakistan. The Karachi Stock Exchange Limited, was a stock exchange located at the Stock Exchange Building on Stock Exchange Road, in the heart of Karachi's Business District, I. I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi, Sindh Province of Pakistan. It was Pakistan's largest, and one of the oldest stock exchanges in South Asia. Karachi Stock Exchange was also listed among 10 best stock markets in the world in 2015. According to Bloomberg, the Pakistani benchmark stock market index is the third-best performer in the world since 2009. In June 2015, Khaleej Times reported that since 2009, the Pakistani equities delivered 26 percent a year for US dollar investors, making Karachi the best-performing stock exchange in the world. As of 10 July 2015, total market capitalization reached Rs. 7.33 trillion.
Lahore Stock Exchange
is located in Lahore, Pakistan. It was amalgamated into the national Pakistan Stock Exchange on 11 January 2016. The Lahore Stock Exchange Limited came into existence in October 1970, under the Securities and Exchange Ordinance of 1969 by the Government of Pakistan in response to the needs of the provincial metropolis of the province of Punjab. It initially had 83 members and was housed in a rented building in the crowded Bank Square area of Lahore.
Islamabad Stock Exchange
or ISE was the youngest of the three stock exchanges of Pakistan and is located in the capital of Pakistan. Islamabad stock exchange was incorporated as a guarantee-limited company on 25 October 1989 in Islamabad. ISE tower is a 22-storey building, which makes it the second highest building of Islamabad after the Telecom Tower. Area covered by the building is, it consists of three levels of basements and ground plus 18 floors above.
Merger
PSX was launched on 11 January 2016. Prior to the formal launch, the Karachi Stock Exchange held a two-day pre-production mock trading session for all certificate holders of the three bourses. The integration is expected to help reduce market fragmentation and create a strong case for attracting strategic partnerships necessary for providing technological expertise and assistance. The integration of the three exchanges has completed the second phase of the Stock Exchanges Demutualisation and Integration Act 2012, passed by a joint session of parliament.
2020 attack
On 29 June 2020, the stock exchange building in Karachi was attacked by several armed assailants from Baluchistan Liberation Army, a terrorist organisation. All four of the assailants were killed by police before they could enter the building and a bomb disposal squad was sent to the building.