Pakistan stocks index sheds 279 points in range-bound trading
The KSE-100 index reversed its trend and shed 279 points on Friday in range-bound trading. Analysts had previously termed the outgoing week as a rollover week when investors would offload stocks bought earlier at attractive valuations. In addition to this, absence of positive triggers to guide market’s direction also weighed on investor sentiment and spread pessimism for the rest of the day.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 279.26 points, or 0.68percent, to settle at 40,848.53. Traded value stood at $61 million, up 19percent and volume came in at 267 million shares, up 13percent. Overall, trading volumes increased to 267.6 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 236.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs9.49 billion. Shares of 355 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 112 stocks closed higher, 221 declined and 22 remained unchanged. WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 31.83 million shares, gaining Rs0.11 to close at Rs1.38.
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US NASDAQ ends 11-day streak of gains
The Nasdaq snapped an 11-day streak of gains on Friday after some late-session weakness, but the S&P 500 and the Dow scratched out record closing highs with slight gains as a year-end rally chugged along.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.87 points, or 0.08%, to 28,645.26, the S&P 500 gained 0.11 points to 3,240.02 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 15.77 points, or 0.17%, to 9,006.62.
Among S&P 500 sectors, consumer staples, real estate and utilities were the top performers. Energy and materials lagged among the sectors.
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France stocks higher at close of trade; CAC 40 up 0.13pc
France stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Foods & Drugs, Gas & Water and General Financial sectors led shares higher. At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.13percent to hit a new 5-year high, while the SBF 120 index gained 0.11percent. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 351 to 243 and 92 ended unchanged. The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 0.77percent to 11.84. Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.27percent or 4.15 to $1518.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.06percent or 0.04 to hit $61.72 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract raised 0.25percent or 0.17 to trade at $68.09 a barrel.
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Germany stocks mixed at close of trade; DAX up 0.27pc
Germany stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Media, Transportation & Logistics and Retail sectors led shares higher while losses in the Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Basic Resources and Insurance sectors led shares lower. At the close in Frankfurt, the DAX added 0.27percent, while the MDAX index fell 0.03percent, and the TecDAX index declined 0.73percent. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by 374 to 306 and 76 ended unchanged. The DAX volatility index, which measures the implied volatility of DAX options, was up 1.68percent to 13.28. EUR/USD was up 0.76percent to 1.1180, while EUR/GBP fell 0.01percent to 0.8538. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.54percent at 96.595.
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Japan stocks lower; NIKKEI 225 down 0.36pc
Japan stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Real Estate sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.36percent. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2475 to 1135 and 182 ended unchanged. The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0.00percent to 13.67. Crude oil for February delivery was up 0.31percent or 0.19 to $61.87 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.21percent or 0.14 to hit $68.06 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.10percent or 1.45 to trade at $1512.95 a troy ounce. USD/JPY was down 0.11percent to 109.50, while EUR/JPY rose 0.13percent to 121.81. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12percent at 97.000.
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India indices snap 3-day losing streak
Snapping three-day losing streak, buying sentiment was back at D-Street with benchmark indices edging a percent higher on Friday lifted by gains in financial counters. The S&P BSE Sensex gained 411.38 points, or 1 percent, to close at 41,575.14 level. On the NSE, the Nifty50 ended 124.15 points, or 1.02 percent highest at 12,250.70-mark. The Sensex and Nifty50 hit an intra-day high/low of 41,611.27/41,264.92 and 12,258.45/12,157.90, respectively. On the sectoral front, all the key indices on the NSE settled the day in the positive territory. Nifty PSU Bank index was the best performing index, up 3 percent, at close, followed by gains in Nifty Realty index (1.6 percent), and Nifty Bank index (1.3 percent). The broader markets, too, followed headlines indices with the S&P BSE mid and small-cap indices gaining 0.86 percent each.