PAKISTAN STOCKS BEAR BUMPY RIDE TO CLOSE FLAT
Stocks seesawed on Friday as fears began to fade over ongoing political instability after the Supreme Court verdict on Panama Papers case that led to a flurry of volatility but no overall direction. The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s KSE-100 shares gained 0.01 percent or 6.27 points to close at 45,912.03 points. KSE-30 shares index shed 0.31 percent or 73.70 points to close at 23,854.00 points.
As many as 364 scrips were active of which 218 advanced, 132 declined and 14 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 327.756 million shares as compared with the turnover of 158.811 million shares a day earlier. Highest volumes were witnessed in Azgard Nine with a turnover of 24.94 million shares.
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US STOCKS DOWN AS AMAZON WEIGHS
US stock indexes opened lower on Friday as Amazon’s profit miss spooked investors and dragged down shares of other technology companies.
Amazon’s shares were down 4.21 percent after it reported a 77 percent drop in profit as its rapid and costly expansion into new shopping categories and countries showed no sign of slowing.
The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The consumer discretionary index, of which Amazon is a component, was the worst performer among the 11 major S&P sectors. The tech index was down 0.55 percent. However, the sector has been the best performer this year, driving the S&P 500’s 10.6 percent run in 2017.
At 9:37 a.m. ET (1337 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 8.75 points, or 0.04 percent, at 21,787.8 and the S&P 500 was down 4.64 points, or 0.18 percent, at 2,470.78. The Nasdaq Composite was down 32.47 points, or 0.51 percent, at 6,349.72.
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TOKYO SHARES CLOSE LOWER
Tokyo stocks closed lower Friday as the market was dragged down by disappointing earnings reports and sentiment hurt by a fall in US technology shares.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq’s streak of all-time high closes ended Thursday with Apple, Google-parent Alphabet and Netflix shares all slumping.
Investors were also spooked after internet colossus Amazon reported its profit shrank despite surging sales as it poured money into growth, with its shares slipping three percent.
The Nikkei 225 index fell 0.60 percent, or 119.80 points, to end at 19,959.84. Over the week, the benchmark index fell 0.70 percent. The Topix index of all first-section issues fell 0.35 percent, or 5.62 points, to 1,621.22. It was down 0.54 percent for the week.
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CANADA’S TSX DECLINES
Canada’s main stock index pulled back on Friday, weighed by slips in heavyweight financial stocks and most of its consumer names despite strong domestic data, while plane and train maker Bombardier Inc surged after reporting a surprise profit.
At 10:21 a.m. ET (1421 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 94.69 points, or 0.62 percent, at 15,096.67. The index, which has lagged global peers so far this year as its large energy group has weighed, is on track for a 0.6 percent slip on the week.
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HONG KONG SHARES END DOWN
Hong Kong stocks fell Friday to end the week on a low and mirror a downturn around the region sparked by a US tech sell-off, although Shanghai managed to eke out modest gains.
The Hang Seng Index lost 0.56 percent, or 151.78 points, to 26,979.39. But the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.11 percent, or 3.46 points, to 3,253.24 while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, added 0.13 percent, or 2.41 points, to 1,868.37.