NASDAQ DECLINES AS DOW HEADS TOWARD NEW RECORD
Big tech shares including Apple, Amazon and Facebook declined abruptly Friday afternoon as the Nasdaq retreated from a record, while the Dow in contrast pushed towards a new high. In afternoon trading, Apple and Microsoft were each down 3.4 percent, Amazon declined 2.7 percent, Facebook dropped 3.1 percent and Google parent Alphabet 2.8 percent.
The Nasdaq Composite Index had tumbled 1.6 percent to 6,220.17. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 percent to 21,251.63, about 45 points above its all-time high, while the broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.1 percent to 2,431.19. Big gainers in the Dow included oil giant Chevron, up 2.2 percent, and banks JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, which climbed 2.0 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
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PAKISTAN INDEX HITS LOWEST TRADING IN 3 YEARS, CLOSES IN THE RED
The KSE-100 index continued its downward course to end the week down by 431.41 points with lowest volumes in almost 3-year.
At the end of trading on Friday, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index registered a decline of 0.86 percent at 49,526.92. It is reported that Pakistan equities slipped by as much as 0.9 percent on the last day of the week on across-the-board profit-taking amid record thin activity. Volumes on the benchmark KSE-100 index were the lowest in almost three years. Almost all sectors closed lower and pulled the benchmark index to test and close near 49,500, barring select pharma stocks that ended higher on reported institutional interest.
Overall, trading volumes dropped to 208 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 268 million. Shares of 348 firms were traded. At the end of the day, 95 stocks closed higher and 231 declined while 22 remained equal. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.2 billion.
Power Cement (right shares) was the volume leader with 25.7 million shares, losing Rs0.39 to close at Rs1.20. It was followed by Engro Polymer with 18.8 million shares, losing Rs1.19 to close at Rs36.90 and WorldCall Telecom with 15.8 million shares, gaining Rs0.25 to close at Rs3.51.
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INDIA’S BSE BENCHMARK RECOVERS ON LATE BUYING
The BSE benchmark Sensex rebounded about 49 points to end at 31,262.06 on fag-end buying in sectors like realty, metal, auto, banking and healthcare amid a firming trend in worldwide markets. Furthermore, covering-up of short positions by bears too supported the late recovery in stocks, helping wipe off initial losses.
The 30-share index started on a bearish note at 31,196.86 stayed in the negative terrain for most part of the day to hit a low of 31,087.28 as participants indulged in trimming their positions to lock in gains. However, late buying helped it stage a strong comeback to wipe off day’s losses to scale a high of 31,289.99 before closing 48.70 points, or 0.16 percent, higher at 31,262.06. The gauge had lost 57.92 points in the last session. The NSE Nifty also went up by 21 points, or 0.22 percent, at 9,668.25, after moving between 9,608.15 and 9,676.25.
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SE ASIA STOCKS SHRUG OFF UK ELECTION OUTCOME
Singapore shares edged up on Friday, with markets in the region largely shrugging off a shock election result from the UK that saw British Prime Minister Theresa May losing her majority in Parliament, an outcome that might disrupt Brexit negotiations.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was mostly flat. Singapore shares ended at their highest since May 15, closing the week 0.4 percent higher. The index was underpinned by financial stocks, with lenders DBS Group Holdings and United Overseas Bank Ltd climbing 1.2 percent each, while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp ended up 0.8 percent.
The Philippine stock index ended 0.4 percent higher, adding 1.04 percent for the week in its third straight such gain. Philippine exports enlarged for a fifth straight month in April, with shipments to Hong Kong and China growing 36.8 percent and 26.4 percent, respectively.
Indonesia recorded its lowest close in 3-week, with conglomerate Astra International shedding 2 percent. The index closed the week 1.2 percent lower. Thai shares ended down 0.2 percent, while Malaysia ended marginally higher.
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EMERGING STOCKS HIT 2-YEAR HIGH; QATAR PRESSURES RISE
Emerging stocks inched to new 2-year highs on Friday and were set to close the week in the black, but Qatar’s riyal declined further in the offshore forwards markets after a rollercoaster week that saw its stocks lose 7 percent.
Overall emerging markets were kept in check by a firmer dollar and weaker Chinese factory gate rates that again cast doubts on economic growth, but MSCI’s emerging equity index rose 0.2 percent for a 0.6 percent increase this week.
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SRI LANKAN STOCKS SLIGHTLY FIRMER
Sri Lankan shares ended slightly firmer on Friday, snapping four straight sessions of declines, on foreign investor buying in select stocks.
The Colombo stock index closed up 0.07 percent at 6,668.96, edging up from its lowest close since May 30 hit on Wednesday. However, it fell 0.3 percent this week in its third straight weekly decline.
Turnover was 534.9 million rupees ($3.50 million), little higher than half of this year’s daily average of 897.6 million rupees. Inflation could rise in the short term, especially due to crop damage and difficulties in distributing fresh food produce and staple food items.
Foreign investors were net buyers of 131.3 million rupees worth of shares, extending the year-to-date net foreign inflow to 20.2 billion rupees. Shares of BRAC Lanka Finance Plc rose 18 percent, Bukit Darah Plc ended 6.3 percent firmer and the country’s biggest listed lender, Commercial Bank of Ceylon Plc gained 1.57 percent.