US SHARES INCREASE AFTER SOLID JUNE JOBS REPORT
Wall Street stocks rose early Friday after the Labor Department reported the US added a better-than-expected 222,000 jobs in June. Despite the solid headline figure, the report showed that wage growth remains weak. Average hourly earnings rose four cents to $26.25, up 0.2 percent over May and 2.5 percent higher than June of last year, the same annual gain reported in May.
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 21,386.47, up 0.3 percent. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to 2,417.58, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.6 percent to 6,125.02.
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PAKISTAN STOCKS POST RECOVERY
The KSE-100 Index recovered on Friday 0.89 percent higher, ending the week over the 45,200 level with oil and cement stocks leading the way. After a subdued morning session amid dull activity, the market saw a brief bullish ride before profit-taking took the shine off intra-day gains.
Overall, trading volumes fell to 132 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 146 million. Shares of 329 companies were traded. At the end of the day, value of 237 stocks closed higher, 79 declined while 13 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.9 billion. TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 15.8 million shares, gaining Rs1.58 to close at Rs35.93. It was followed by Pak Elektron with 9.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.25 to close at Rs96 and Bank of Punjab with 9 million shares, gaining Rs0.38 to close at Rs11.55.
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EUROPEAN SHARES EASE
Europe’s main stock markets eased at the start of trading Friday as investors awaited US jobs data. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index dipped 0.1 percent to 7,330.52 points compared with the close Thursday. In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 in Paris fell around 0.1 percent to 5,149.79 points and Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was flat at 12,376.19 points.
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TOKYO SHARES END LOWER
Japanese stocks ended lower on Friday, tracking global losses fuelled by a below-forecast jobs reading, with rising tensions between the US and North Korea adding to uncertainty. Central banks including in Britain, Canada and Europe are seen preparing tighten monetary policies that were loosened to navigate economies through the financial crisis. But Japanese inflation still weak and the economy torpid, the Bank of Japan embarked on a bond-buying spree Friday to lower yields on its benchmark 10-year notes, which had followed global rates higher Thursday.
The move pushed the dollar to 113.73 yen from 113.18 yen in New York and provided support to the Nikkei 225, which pared early losses to close down 0.32 percent, or 64.97 points, at 19,929.09. Over the week the index fell 0.52 percent.
The broader Topix index of all first-section issues lost 0.52 percent, or 8.47 points, to 1,607.06, down 0.30 percent from last Friday.
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AUSTRALIAN AND NZ SHARES DIP
Australian shares are expected to retreat on Friday as iron ore futures remained in negative territory and as Wall Street slipped, hurt by poor labor market data. Iron ore futures dropped for a third day while oil prices settled slightly higher. The index is also expected to mirror losses in Wall Street, weighed down by disappointing labor market data along with rising tensions in the North Korean peninsula.
The local share price index futures fell 0.4 percent to 5,676, an 82.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark inched 0.1 percent lower on Thursday. New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.3 percent or 21.46 points in early trade.
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HONG KONG STOCKS TUMBLE
Hong Kong stocks finished a volatile week with a loss on Friday in line with a broad retreat across Asian markets following sharp falls on Wall Street with traders awaiting the release of key US jobs data later in the day.
The Hang Seng Index fell 0.49 percent, or 124.37 points, to 25,340.85. But the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.17 percent, or 5.52 points, to 3,217.96 and the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, added 0.18 percent, or 3.54 points, to 1,918.13.
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TSX SLIDES AS POWER, FINANCIALS DRAG
Canada’s main stock index opened lower on Friday as energy stocks hit by cooling oil prices led the market lower, while heavily weighted bank stocks added to the declines. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 51.26 points, or 0.34 percent, to 15,026.74 shortly after the open. All but one of the index’s 10 main groups were on negative ground.