US STOCKS EDGE HIGHER AFTER 3-DAY RETREAT
Wall Street stocks edged higher early Friday, as investors waded back into the market following a 3-day sell-off sparked by US tensions with North Korea. The deepest declines this week came Thursday after President Donald doubled down on threats against North Korea over its nuclear program.
In day’s early trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 21,868.95, up 0.1 percent. The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1 percent at 2,440.81, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to 6,228.19.
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KSE-100 INDEX DIPS FURTHER TO 45,300 POINTS
Adhering to its norm, the stock market continued its downward journey on Friday as the political climate kept the bourse under pressure.
The KSE-100 index was declined from the word go, but managed to recover slightly before midday break. However, in the later session, the index again declined to end trading in the red zone. At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 345.53 points or 0.76 percent at 45,288.49. Overall, trading volumes declined to 113 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 175 million. Shares of 364 firms were traded.
At the end of the day, 127 stocks ended higher, 219 declined while 18 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.04 billion. Azgard Nine was the volume leader with 18.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.82 to close at Rs16.59. It was followed by TRG Pakistan with 6.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.83 to close at Rs44.66 and Aisha Steel Mills with 5.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.29 to close at Rs22.73.
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EUROPEAN SHARE MARKETS EXTEND LOSSES
European stock markets declined more in opening trade on Friday on intensifying fears over North Korea.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index shed 0.9 percent to 7,323.45 points. In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 dropped almost 0.7 percent to 5,081.92 points compared with the closing level on Thursday. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was 0.4 percent lower at 11,961.60 points.
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SRI LANKAN STOCKS DECLINE FOR 4TH STRAIGHT WEEK
Sri Lankan shares fell to a more than three-and-a-half month low and breached the psychological level of 6,500 points on Friday, dragged down by diversified and beverage shares.
The Colombo stock index fell 0.36 percent, or 23.63 points, to 6,492.69, its lowest close since April 19. The bourse fell 1.2 percent for the week, its fourth straight weekly fall. Turnover stood at 396 million rupees, less than half of this year’s daily average of almost 877.3 million rupees.
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HONG KONG, SHANGHAI SHARES SUFFER STEEP DROP
Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks ended Friday sharply lower as traders took fright over escalating North Korea tensions which have sparked a worldwide sell-off.
The Hang Seng Index finished down 2.04 percent, or 560.49 points, at 26,883.51. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunged 1.63 percent, or 53.21 points, to 3,208.54, while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, lost 1.60 percent, or 30.00 points, to 1,842.60.
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TSX HITS 1-MONTH LOW
Canada’s main stock index fell to its lowest close in a month on Thursday as oil prices fell and investors sought refuge in safe-haven assets amid rising tensions between the United States and North Korea.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed down 143.08 points, or 0.94 percent, at 15,074.25. Nine of the index’s 10 main groups closed lower.
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SOUTH KOREAN SHARES HIT 7-WEEK LOW
South Korean shares slumped to a 7-week low on Thursday on foreign-selling amid anxiety over simmering tensions between the United States and North Korea, knocking the won currency to the weakest in a month.
Institutional buying managed to pull back the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) from intraday lows, but the benchmark still ended down 0.4 percent at 2,359.47 points, its weakest since June 21. The index touched a low of 2,339.06 points during the session.