Financial, cement stocks pull kse-100 down
The KSE-100 index failed on Friday to break the ongoing bearish spell and continued to lose ground for the fourth straight day as stocks of financial institutions and cement companies came under selling pressure.
In the morning, trading began on a positive note, but later selling pressure emerged which pushed major stocks down. Exploration and production, cement and chemical stocks took a hit while fertilizer shares moved higher.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 121.28 points or 0.29% to settle at 41,742.24. Overall, trading volumes decreased to 159.8 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 191.5 million.
The value of shares traded during the day was Rs7.1 billion. Shares of 367 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 130 stocks closed higher, 215 declined while 22 remained unchanged. Unity Foods was the volume leader with 10.5 million shares, gaining Rs1.41 to close at Rs43.64. It was followed by Engro Polymer with 10.46 million shares, gaining Rs0.41 to close at Rs34.84 and The Bank of Punjab with 8.5 million shares, gaining Rs0.02 to close at Rs11.62.
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US Dow index down, Nasdaq up
The S&P 500 ended flat while the Dow edged down and the Nasdaq closed higher in light trading on Friday as Canada and the United States concluded trade talks without resolution ahead of the Labor Day weekend.
Capping a low-volume, late-summer week marked by tariff-related volatility, all three major US indexes posted net gains for the period. The indexes were also up for the month of August, with the Nasdaq posting its largest monthly gain since January.
Talks between Canada the United States to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ended on a sour note as the two sides were unable to reach a deal, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Amazon.com’s shares continued to inch upward, rising 0.5 percent as investors watch the company close in on its $1 trillion market share milestone.
Apple Inc closed up 1.2 percent, reaching a new closing high for the fifth straight session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.1 points, or 0.09 percent, to 25,964.82, the S&P 500 gained 0.39 points, or 0.01 percent, to 2,901.52 and the Nasdaq Composite added 21.17 points, or 0.26 percent, to 8,109.54.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, five closed lower.
Coca-Cola Co agreed to buy the coffee chain Costa from Britain’s Whitbread PLC for $5.1 billion.. Its shares dipped 0.8 percent.
Ford Motor Co dropped 2.3 percent after scrapping a plan to sell a Chinese-made small vehicle in the United States due to tariff concerns.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.16-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.60-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
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European stock markets down
Europe’s leading stock markets dropped at the open on Friday, with London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index down 0.1 percent at 7,503.72 points. In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index shed 0.6 percent to 12,418.26 points and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.1 percent to 5,470.80, compared with the closing levels on Thursday.
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Tokyo stocks close flat
Tokyo stocks closed flat on Friday, retrieving some earlier losses as traders cheered strong China data.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down just 0.02 percent, or 4.35 points, at 22,865.15, while the broader Topix index ended down 0.22 percent, or 3.79 points, at 1,735.35.
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Asian markets in reverse as China-US row returns to fore
Asian markets sank Friday as the China-US trade row burst back into view with a report that Donald Trump wants to impose tariffs on $200 billion of goods as early as next week.
All three major Wall Street indexes ended down, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ending a streak of four straight days of records. The losses filtered through to Asia, where Tokyo ended the morning session 0.2 percent lower, while Hong Kong sank 1.5 percent and Shanghai lost 0.9 percent.
A better-than-forecast reading on Chinese manufacturing activity was unable to lift the gloom. Sydney fell 0.3 percent, while Singapore and Seoul were each off 0.1 percent. Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were also sharply lower.
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Canadian index falls as NAFTA optimism dulls
Canada’s main stock index slipped on Friday following a report that a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal with the United States might not be concluded by the end of the day.
At 9:38 a.m. ET (13:38 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 26.22 points, or 0.16 percent, at 16,345.33. Canada and the United States will make a final push to iron out differences on a pact to revamp the NAFTA by the Friday deadline set by US President Donald Trump. Seven of the index’s 11 major sectors were lower, led by the energy sector’s 0.6 percent drop as oil prices were pressured by trade worries.
On the TSX, 90 issues were higher, while 146 issues declined for a 1.62-to-1 ratio to the downside, with 9.42 million shares traded. The TSX posted two new 52-week highs and no new lows. Across all Canadian issues there were 14 new 52-week highs and six new lows, with total volume of 15.93 million shares.
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Sri Lankan shares post weekly gain, but drop about 1pc on month
Sri Lankan shares posted a weekly gain as they edged higher marginally on Friday, pulling further away from a 17-month low hit earlier this week.
The Colombo stock index ended 0.06 percent higher at 6,080.26, in its fourth gaining session in 15. It rose 0.4 percent this week, marking the second straight weekly gain. The index, however, lost 1.1 percent in August, having hit its lowest close since March 2017 on Tuesday. The day’s turnover was at 639 million rupees ($3.96 million), less than this year’s daily average of 813.3 million rupees.
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Australia shares up; NZ slips
Australian shares were set to gain on Friday, helped by oil prices on Thursday rising to the highest in more than a month on growing evidence of disruptions to crude supply from Iran and Venezuela.
Australian energy stocks will be the likely beneficiaries of Thursday’s 0.8 percent rise in Brent crude prices. The main index is on track to end the week 1.7 percent higher, after gaining in three sessions of the four before Friday’s opening.
The Australian share price index futures gained 12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,336, a 15.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark marked time on Thursday. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index down 0.2 percent, or 14 points, to 9,325.89 at 2203 GMT.