BULLISH SPELL DEEPENS AT PSX
A bullish trend continued on Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and the benchmark KSE-100 gained another 351.01 points to end at the level of 49,364.83 points on Friday.
The daily trading volumes increased to 459.724 million shares as compared to 456.497 million shares traded Thursday. The market capitalization increased by Rs75 billion to Rs9.904 trillion. Out of total 425 active scrips, 262 closed in positive, 154 in negative while the value of 9 stocks remained unchanged. Telecard was the volume leader with 49.057 million shares.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
WALL STREET DECLINES BEFORE TRUMP’S INAUGURATION
US stocks declined on Thursday, continuing to pull back from the post-election rally, on investor caution ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president on Friday.
The Dow fell for a fifth straight day, its longest losing streak since just before the November 8 US election. The S&P 500 is up 5.8 percent since the vote. And though the S&P 500 sank 5.3 percent on President Barack Obama’s inauguration day and tumbled 20.4 percent during the first 34 trading days of his administration, bottoming on March 9, 2009, the index has nearly tripled in price off that low.
Including reinvested dividends, it has delivered a total return of nearly 295 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 72.32 points, or 0.37 percent, to 19,732.4, the S&P 500 lost 8.2 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,263.69 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 15.57 points, or 0.28 percent, to 5,540.08.The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 75 new highs and 35 new lows.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
EUROPEAN SHARES EASE
European shares fell, posting their biggest weekly loss since before Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November, as investors grew cautious before his inauguration.
The STOXX 600 closed 0.1 percent lower, marking a five-day loss of almost 1 percent. Britain’s FTSE slipped 0.1 percent and posted a weekly decline of 1.9 percent. European markets closed before Trump’s inauguration speech.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
TOKYO SHARES SOAR
Tokyo stocks grew ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration later Friday, but Takata plunged again on fears of a lengthy bankruptcy restructuring.
The airbag maker’s shares fell nearly 21 percent to close at 567 yen, on the heels of Thursday’s 17 percent dive.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 opened in the red on Friday, but had risen 0.34 percent, or 65.66 points, by the close to end the day at 19,137.91. It was down 0.77 percent over the week. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues tacked on 0.35 percent, or 5.31 points, to close at 1,533.46. It fell 0.74 percent this week.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
[ads1]
CHINA STOCKS MOVE HIGHER
China stocks ended a volatile week on an upbeat note on Friday, as main indexes rose after data showing faster-than-expected economic growth fuelled blue-chips, while a surge in small-caps erased most of the losses earlier in the week.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.8 percent, to 3,354.89 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.7 percent to 3,123.14 points. For the week, CSI300 was up 1.1 percent, while SSEC was up 0.3 percent.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
INDIAN STOCKS DECLINE
Indian shares declined 1 percent on Friday to post their first weekly fall in four as Axis Bank slumped after it posted disappointing results, dragging down other lenders.
The broader NSE index closed down 1.02 percent at 8349.35, while the benchmark BSE index ended down 1 percent at 27,034.50. The NSE index slipped around 0.6 percent for the week, while the BSE dropped 0.7 percent. Axis Bank ended down 6.83 percent.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
SOUTHEAST ASIAN SHARES TEPID
Southeast Asian stocks market, barring Thailand and Vietnam, were tepid on Friday, as uncertainty over US President-elect Donald Trump’s political and economic stance made investors step back from risky assets ahead of his swearing-in ceremony.
In Southeast Asia, Indonesia closed 0.8 percent lower, with telecom and financial stocks knocking off 0.5 percent from the index. It slipped 0.35 percent on week, a second straight weekly loss.
Philippines was down 0.2 percent, while Malaysia ended marginally lower.
Thai shares gained, with oil majors PTT PCL and Thai Oil PCL leading the energy sector. The index however slipped 0.8 percent this week, snapping three straight weeks of gains.Vietnam shares, up 0.6 percent on the day, rose 0.2 percent on week, climbing for a fourth straight week.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
SRI LANKAN STOCKS SURGE
Sri Lankan stocks closed higher on Friday led by financials, after hitting a more than one-week closing low in the previous session, on increased appetite for risky assets by foreign investors.
The Colombo stock index ended up 0.08 percent at 6,169.57, edging up from its lowest close since January 10 hit on Thursday.The index hit a two-week high on January 13 after the European Commission proposed increased market access for Sri Lanka as a reform incentive.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
HONG KONG STOCKS TUMBLE
Hong Kong stocks ended a thinly-traded week down and snapped three weeks of gains on Friday, as investors were wary ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th US president later in the day.
The benchmark Hang Seng index fell 0.7 percent, to 22,885.91 points at the close, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.8 percent, to 9,715.72 points.The benchmark index lost a modest 0.2 percent this week. Interest-sensitive stocks including property developers and utilities firms retreated more than 0.8 percent on Friday, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said that the US central bank should continue to raise interest rates gradually to keep jobs plentiful and inflation low.
The city’s interest rates usually follow the United States, thanks to a currency peg to the greenback. The energy sector extended Thursday’s losses and fell more than 1.2 percent, partially dragged by index heavyweight PetroChina Co Ltd and CNOOC Ltd.