PAKISTAN STOCKS FALL ON PROFIT-TAKING
Pakistan stocks underwent a little correction after a rollercoaster ride on Friday as investors booked profits in blue-chip shares with earnings season almost over. Financial results invited support in selected cement, textile and fertilizer stocks.
However, dismal earnings announcements in fertilizer sector and cautious activity on regulatory oversight dampened sentiments.
The KSE 100-share Index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) shed 0.22 percent or 110.14 points to close at 49,555.83 points. KSE 30-share Index fell 0.10 percent or 27.53 points to end at 26,716.76 points. As many as 413 scrips were active; of which 124 increased, 275 decreased and 14 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 338.184 million as compared to 447.243 million shares a day earlier. Highest volumes were witnessed in K-Electric with a turnover of 46.739 million shares.
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US STOCKS INCREASE AFTER JOBS REPORT
Major world stock indexes rose on Friday, with US equities closing near record highs, as data showed the creation of more US jobs than expected, while President Donald Trump’s executive order to review banking regulations boosted financial sector shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 186.55 points, or 0.94 percent, to close at 20,071.46, the S&P 500 gained 16.57 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,297.42 and the Nasdaq Composite added 30.57 points, or 0.54 percent, to 5,666.77. MSCI’s all-world stock index, which tracks bourses in 46 markets, rose 0.56 percent to finish the week marginally higher. The euro, which registered its sixth week of gains in seven, was at $1.0778, having climbed as high as $1.0829 after the latest signs that growth and inflation are rising in the euro zone. European stocks gained broadly with the STOXX 600 rising 0.59 percent, rebounding from losses on Thursday.
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GERMANY SHARES MIXED
Germany equities were mixed at the close on Friday, as gains in the Insurance, Technology and Consumer & Cyclical sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Basic Resources, Retail and Construction sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Frankfurt, the DAX added 0.20 percent, while the MDAX index climbed 0.10 percent, and the TecDAX index lost 0.16 percent. The biggest gainers of the session on the DAX were Continental AG O.N., which rose 4.10 percent or 7.650 points to trade at 194.100 at the close. Deutsche Bank AG NA O.N. added 3.63 percent or 0.660 points to end at 18.840 and Muench. Rueckvers. VNA O.N. was up 1.57 percent or 2.750 points to 177.900 in late trade.
Biggest losers included E.ON SE NA, which lost 0.88 percent or 0.062 points to trade at 6.973 in late trade. Heidelbergcement AG O.N. declined 0.79 percent or 0.720 points to end at 90.010 and Lufthansa AG VNA O.N. shed 0.77 percent or 0.095 points to 12.240.
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TOKYO STOCKS POST MINOR GAIN
Tokyo shares ended flat Friday, with early losses erased by a retreat in the yen while investors were also looking ahead to the release of key US jobs data later in the day.
The small gain was not enough to drag the Nikkei out of negative territory for a volatile week that saw the yen rise more than two percent against the dollar, weighing on exporters.
Investors have been wracked with uncertainty as Donald Trump’s presidency gets off to an unpredictable start, including branding Japan a currency manipulator while his protectionist rhetoric has fuelled fears of a global trade war.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 3.62 points to 18,918.20 but lost 2.82 percent over the week. The Topix index of all first-section issues rose 0.30 percent or 4.58 points to 1,514.99 with a weekly drop of 2.21 percent.
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INDIA’S BSE SETTLES HIGHER
Shares of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) made a strong debut on Friday, with the scrip listing at Rs1,085, a 35 percent premium over the issue price of Rs806 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock hit a high of Rs 1,200, up 49 percent against its issue price within minutes of its listing. It closed the day 33 percent higher at Rs 1,070.
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SRI LANKAN SHARES EDGE UP
Sri Lankan shares closed slightly higher on Thursday, snapping two straight sessions of falls, as investors picked up battered blue chips while net foreign buying also boosted sentiment.
Investors await clarity on interest rates from the central bank’s first monetary policy in 2017 scheduled on Tuesday.
The Colombo stock index ended up 0.15 percent at 6,139.56, while turnover was 1.09 billion rupees ($7.26 million), higher than this year’s daily average of 645 million rupees. People are looking at cheap stocks and collecting. Investors collect stocks at these levels when they see a stock is attractive.
Foreign investors, who have been net sellers of 1.62 billion rupees worth of shares so far this year, net bought 27.1 million rupees worth of equities on Thursday. Shares of Nestle Lanka Plc rose 2.48 percent, Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc, the country’s biggest listed lender, climbed 1.82 percent, and conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc gained 0.43 percent.