PAKISTAN STOCKS KEEP FALLING
It was a tumultuous day at the bourse, with the index experiencing a rough ride and ultimately ending negative on the back of falling crude prices.
At close, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE 100-share Index ended with a fall of 200.69 points or 0.41 percent to end at 49,191.75. Market expert said that equities closed the last day of the week lower in a dull trading session where benchmark KSE100 Index traded a band of little over 400 points.
Despite Thursday’s healthy foreign buying and positive news of stock brokers receiving Pakistan Stock Exchange sale proceeds, interest in the wider market remained highly selective with only 183 million shares exchanging hands on the KSE all-share index, down 27 percent verses this week’s average.
The market carried Thursday’s negative trend and opened gap down while falling global crude also had an impact on sentiment in early trade that led KSE-100 Index to test support near 49,200 level. Volumes stood low at 183 million shares versus 220 million shares traded on Thursday.
Oil and Gas Development Company (-2.16%) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (-1.61%) were the major losers of the aforementioned sector.
Additionally mixed sentiments were witnessed in the banking sector as National Bank of Pakistan (+0.70%) gained to close in the green zone, whereas on the flipside UBL (-2.44%) and HBL (-0.23%) weighed down the index.
Trading volumes fell to 182 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 220 million. Shares of 380 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 121 stocks closed higher, 245 declined while 14 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.7 billion. TPL Tracker was the volume leader with 11.7 million shares, gaining Rs0.01 to close at Rs15.41. It was followed by Bank of Punjab with 11.5 million shares, losing Rs0.26 to close at Rs15.43 and K-Electric Limited with 10.1 million shares, losing Rs0.15 to close at Rs9.51.
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BT PUSHES FTSE 100 HIGHER
BT Group Telecommunications Company led the London market higher on Friday after confirming it would legally separate Openreach.
Shares in the telecoms giant jumped 4.1 percent, putting it at the top of the FTSE 100 risers. The blue-chip index gained 28 points to close at 7,343.08.
BT shares fell by a fifth in late January after cutting its outlook for both 2017 and 2018 forecast in the wake of an accounting scandal at its Italian business. The stock has risen 14 percent since then. The FTSE fallers were led by shopping centre owner Intu Properties, which shed 1.7 percent, while Hammerson lost 1.4 percent and British Land 1.3 percent.
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TOKYO SHARES RISES AS AUTOMAKERS, BANKS RALLY
Tokyo stocks rose Friday with automakers and banks rallying, while Toshiba erased early losses despite fears that its troubled US nuclear unit is headed for bankruptcy.
Exporters benefited as the dollar punched above 115 yen for the first time since the end of January, ahead of a key US jobs report likely to seal the case for the Fed to raise rates.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rallied 1.48 percent, or 286.03 points, to end at 19,604.61. It tacked on 0.69 percent over the week. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues rose 1.24 percent, or 19.33 points, to 1,574.01. It gained 1.02 percent for the week. Toyota rose 1.34 percent to 6,520 yen, while rival Nissan gained 1.45 percent to 1,158 yen.
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INDIA SENSEX SOAR, BUT CAUTION RULES AHEAD OF ELECTION RESULTS
Exit polls out of the way, the Indian market on Friday decided to buy time and wait for the final judgement on Saturday with the Sensex staying decidedly cautious by consolidating its gains.
On the macro front, the index of industrial production (IIP) for January is scheduled for release after market hours today. Chances of higher US borrowing costs kept investors on their toes.
The 30-share Sensex settled higher by 17.10 points, or 0.06 percent, at 28,946.23. It had gained 27.19 points in the previous session. The broad-based Nifty ended up 7.55 points, or 0.08 percent, at 8,934.55. On a weekly basis, the Sensex gained 113.78 points, or 0.39 percent, and the Nifty 37 points, or 0.41 percent.
Among the 30-Sensex constituents, Bharti Airtel topped the gainers list by surging 1.22 percent, followed by Hero MotoCorp 1.16 percent. Other major gainers were L&T, TCS, ONGC, Infosys and Wipro.
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HONG KONG STOCKS MOVE UP
Hong Kong stocks were edged up by the close of trade Friday, shaking off early losses fuelled by tumbling energy firms, with investors looking ahead to the release of US jobs data later in the day.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.29 percent, or 67.11 points, to close at 23,568.67. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.12 percent, or 3.99 points, to close at 3,212.76 but the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, added 0.20 percent, or 4.09 points, to 2,013.64.
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TSX GAINS AS ENERGY STOCKS BOUNCE
Canada’s main stock index edged higher on Thursday as energy shares rebounded after sharp losses the day before even as US oil prices fell below $50 a barrel, while the materials group also gained ground.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 9.42 points, or 0.06 percent, at 15,506.40, shortly after the open. Just three of the index’s 10 main groups were higher.