PAKISTAN STOCKS END HIGHER AS FTSE, S&P REBALANCING PROVIDES TRIGGER
Despite a volatile session, the Pakistan Stock Exchange ended in the green on Friday on the back of massive foreign buying due to the upcoming FTSE and S&P rebalancing that would see the inclusion of Pakistani companies in their emerging market indexes.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a rise of 103.62 points or 0.24 percent to end at 42,787.19 points. It is said that the market remained volatile, making an intraday high/low of +331/ -145 points to close at 42,787 in anticipation of FTSE and S&P rebalancing of PSX stocks from ‘frontier’ to ‘emerging’ market. Overall, trading volumes fell to 200 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 217 million. Shares of 383 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 133 stocks closed higher, 231 declined while 19 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs13.1 billion. Dost Steels was the volume leader with 16.2 million shares, gaining Rs1.00 to close at Rs12.11.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS SLID
Europe’s stock markets slid at the open on Friday, with London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index down 0.3 percent at 7,272.78 points. In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 lost 0.1 percent to 12,525.36 points and the CAC 40 in Paris also dipped about 0.1 percent to 5,220.89 points compared with the closing levels on Thursday.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
BRAZIL SHARES SET FRESH RECORD HIGH
Brazilian stocks touched an all-time high on Friday as traders remained confident that embattled President Michel Temer will implement market-friendly reforms despite new corruption charges against him. That conviction has fueled a rally in Brazilian markets in recent weeks that drove the benchmark Bovespa index past the psychological 75,000-point milestone for the first time ever.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
LONDON SHARES SLUMP AS POUND TOPS $1.36
The London stock market slid Friday as investors shrugged off news of a bomb attack in the British capital and instead took their cue from the surging pound.
Sterling shot above $1.36 when a Bank of England policymaker signaled a rate hike for “the coming months”, after British borrowing costs were this week left on hold at a record-low 0.25 percent. The British capital’s FTSE 100 index of top companies fell 1.1 percent as sterling rebounded to $1.3616 – the highest level since June 2016. Eurozone trading was muted on Friday with Frankfurt and Paris stocks slipping 0.2 percent.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
[ads1]
TOKYO SHARES END HIGHER
Tokyo stocks closed higher on Friday with investors keeping their cool despite North Korea’s launch of a second missile over Japan in less than a month.
Japan was jolted awake in the early hours by an alert saying North Korea had fired a rocket over its northern island of Hokkaido.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.52 percent, or 102.06 points, to close at 19,909.50. It gained 3.29 percent over the week. The Topix was up 0.42 percent, or 6.81 points, at 1,638.94. It rose 2.85 percent over the week. In trading in individual stocks, Nintendo climbed 1.53 percent to 38,250 yen while Toyota rose 0.76 percent to 6,480 yen.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
TSX RISES ON HIGHER OIL PRICES
Canada’s main stock index rose on Thursday as higher oil prices drove gains by energy companies, offsetting losses for miners after the value of copper and other base metals fell.
Empire Co, the parent company of the Sobeys grocery chain, soared 12.1 percent to C$22.13 after reporting adjusted earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations.
The energy group climbed 1.3 percent with Encana Corp adding 3.6 percent to C$12.85 and Suncor Energy Inc advancing 1.1 percent to C$41.41. At 9:59 a.m. ET (1359 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 25.79 points, or 0.17 percent, at 15,152.60.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
HONG KONG SHARES END WEEK ON POSITIVE NOTE
Hong Kong stocks recovered Friday to end the week with a gain, as traders brushed off early concerns about North Korea’s latest missile launch.
The Hang Seng Index added 0.11 percent, or 30.39 points, to close at 27.807.59. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.53 percent, or 17.81 points, to 3,353.62 and the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, lost 0.28 percent, or 5.54 points, to 1,987.99.