PAKISTAN’S STOCK MARKET BOUNCES BACK
Stocks bounced back on Thursday from the plunge seen in previous sessions and ended the week in the green zone for the second straight session before long Eidul Fitr holidays.
The positive activity continued since the morning and the KSE 100-share Index touched an intra-day high of over 980 points.
At close of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index finished with a rise of 857.85 points or 1.89 percent to close at 46,332.31. Pakistan Stock Exchange will remain closed from June 23 to June 28. It will revert to normal trading hours from June 29.All sectors contributed to the positive trend and commercial bank heavyweights cumulatively contributed +217 points to the KSE-100 index. HBL (+2.81%), United Bank (+0.97%) and MCB Bank (+1.98%) were major contributors from the banking sector. Overall, trading volumes fell to 294 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 346 million shares of 383 companies were traded.
At the end of the day, 259 stocks closed higher and 106 declined while 18 remained unchanged. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs13.3 billion. K-Electric was the volume leader with 68.2 million shares, gaining Rs0.15 to close at Rs7.
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WORLD STOCKS ADVANCE AS DOLLAR DECLINE BOOSTS OIL
World stocks advanced on Friday and were poised for a modest gain to end the week as a drop in the dollar helped boost sagging oil prices. The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies as preliminary data on US factory and services activities in June fell short of analyst forecasts, stoking doubts about US economic growth for the rest of 2017.
US crude rose 0.84 percent to $43.10 per barrel and Brent was last at $45.64, up 0.93 percent on the day. The climb in crude helped lift energy stocks on Wall Street, with the group up 0.8 percent as the best performing of the major S&P sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14.29 points, or 0.07 percent, to 21,411.58, the S&P 500 gained 4.95 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,439.45 and the Nasdaq Composite added 15.91 points, or 0.26 percent, to 6,252.60.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 0.18 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.25 percent.
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TOKYO STOCKS END UP
Tokyo stocks closed on Friday slightly higher after a day short of key market-moving events, while airbag supplier Takata rallied after several days of losses before a predicted bankruptcy filing.
Some oil-linked firms ticked up as crude saw a rare positive day on Thursday after a period of heavy selling that has sent the commodity to a 10-month low.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.11 percent, or 22.16 points, to close at 20,132.67. Over the week the index edged up 0.95 percent. The Topix index of all first-section issues squeaked up 0.06 percent, or 0.96 points, to 1,611.34. Over the week the index gained 0.96 percent. Japan Petroleum Exploration rose 1.07 percent to 2,250 and oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan gained 0.95 percent to 3,160 yen.Takata surged 45.45 percent to 160 yen, swinging after days of huge losses on expectations the airbag maker at the centre of the auto industry’s biggest-ever safety recall will apply for bankruptcy protection.
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HONG KONG STOCKS FLAT
Hong Kong stocks finished Friday on a mild note following a tough week that saw energy firms hit by a plunge in oil prices. The Hang Seng Index dipped 4.48 points to 25,670.05.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.33 percent, or 10.42 points, to 3,157.87 and the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, rose 0.46 percent, or 8.50 points, to 1,871.34.
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TSX RALLIES AS POWER AND MATERIALS LEAD, BLACKBERRY SINKS
Canada’s main stock index rallied on Friday, bolstered by index heavyweights like energy and mining stocks, but BlackBerry Ltd shares suffered sharp losses after first quarter sales missed expectations. BlackBerry reported an unexpected 4.7 percent drop in revenue from its software and services business, whose success is at the heart of Chief Executive John Chen’s turnaround plan for the company. Shares tumbled 11.8 percent to C$12.93, on track for its biggest one-day decline in about 2-1/2 years.
At 10:25 a.m. ET (1425 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index rose 84.05 points, or 0.55 percent, to 15,303.95. Of the index’s 10 main groups, eight were in positive territory. The consumer staples group, home to grocers, was down 0.3 percent.
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BSE CROSSES 31,500 MARK, HITS ALL-TIME HIGH OF 31,522
The Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) sensex on 22 June 2017 witnessed an all-time high of 31,522 points, recording a surge of over 200 points since the opening figure.
This surge comes in the backdrop of an ease in the takeover norms for the acquisition of stressed assets of listed companies, which was announced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday.The Nifty was up by 50 points, nearing the 9,700-mark.The biggest gainers were HDFC, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries and Axis Bank.