US stocks rebound after posting wild week in two years
US stocks ended a wild week with a burst of buying, pushing the S&P 500 up 1.5 percent on Friday, but still recorded their worst week in two years, and investors braced for more volatile trading days ahead.
The sharp falls of the week confirmed the market was in a correction, down more than 10 percent from a Jan. 26 record high, and throwing the nearly nine-year bull market off course. The newly volatile market was shaken in part by rising bond yields, which led stock investors to rethink their positions after months of steady gains.
The S&P 500 ended the week nearly 9 percent below the all-time high set just two weeks ago.
On Friday alone, the S&P 500 swung from gains of up to 2.2 percent to declines of 1.9 percent, echoing the big swings of the past week. The Dow moved in a range of more than 1,000 points, a more modest change than on Monday when the Dow fell as much as nearly 1,600 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 330.44 points, or 1.38 percent, to 24,190.9, the S&P 500 gained 38.55 points, or 1.49 percent, to 2,619.55, and the Nasdaq Composite added 97.33 points, or 1.44 percent, to 6,874.49.
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European share markets resume slide
European stock markets slid at the start of trading Thursday as volatility continued to dominate global equities trading.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 0.8 percent to 7,219.19 points, with investors eyeing the Bank of England, which is Thursday set to keep its main interest rate at 0.5 percent and also publish its latest UK growth and inflation forecasts. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 shed 0.7 percent to 12,506.18 points and the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.5 percent to 5,229.78 compared with the closing levels on Wednesday. After slumping in the region of 2.5 percent on Tuesday, Europe’s leading stock markets ended Wednesday’s sessions with gains of between around 1.5 and 2.0 percent.
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Sri Lankan shares increase to 3-month high
Sri Lankan shares rose to their highest close in three months on Thursday as foreign investors picked up blue chip stocks such as conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc.
The Colombo stock index ended 0.55 percent firmer at 6,542.90, its highest close since Nov. 10, 2017. Shares in Carson Cumberbatch Plc rose 6.9 percent, while conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc ended 0.5 percent higher. Ceylon Beverage Holdings Plc jumped 14.1 percent and Nestle Lanka Plc firmed 2 percent. The market turnover was 1.3 billion rupees ($8.43 million), more than last year’s daily average of 915.3 million rupees.
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Tokyo shares close higher on bargain-buying
Tokyo stocks closed higher on Thursday supported by bargain-hunters after the two previous days saw wild price swings.
The benchmark Nikkei index ended up 1.13 percent, or 245.49 points, at 21,890.96, while the broader Topix index closed 0.90 percent, or 15.78 points, higher at 1,765.69. The dollar fetched 109.61 yen in Asian trade, up from 109.20 yen in New York. Nissan was up 1.38 percent at 1,168 yen ahead of its earnings report later Thursday, while rival Toyota rose 2.42 percent to 7,551 yen and Honda advanced 0.85 percent to 5,706 yen. Mazda ended down 0.09 percent at 1,513 yen after it said it would maintain its full-year profit forecast. Shiseido jumped 3.97 percent to 5,706 yen after announcing a better-than-expected full-year earnings report.
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TSX gains modestly as financial, cannabis stocks increase
Canada’s main stock index rose modestly on Wednesday, supported by gains in Manulife Financial and the banking sector, as well as a bounce-back in shares of cannabis companies.
At 10:04 a.m. ET (15:04 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index edged up 25.58 points, or 0.17 percent, at 15,389.51. The Toronto market was also following a cautiously upbeat tone on Wall Street after a global equities rout on Monday. Cannabis producers were among the most actively traded, including Canopy Growth, which was among the biggest advancers on the index, up 6.7 percent at C$30.73.
Marijuana shares had come under pressure in recent weeks but have begun to perk back up. Aphria rose 4.9 percent to C$17.45, while Aurora Cannabis rose 7.1 percent to C$12.35. The financials group gained 0.2 percent. Toronto Dominion Bank rose 0.3 percent to C$71.89, while Bank of Nova Scotia rose 0.2 percent to C$78.32. The TSX posted 1 new 52-week highs and 8 new lows. Across all Canadian issues there were 6 new 52-week highs and 18 new lows. Volume on the TSX index was 37.45 million shares.
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Sensex, nifty record biggest weekly loss since aug 2015
India’s BSE Sensex slumped over 407 points to end at a one-month low of 34,005.76, and the NSE Nifty ended below the 10,500 mark due to widespread sell-off after global rout in stocks returned on worries about rising US interest rates. Continuous outflows by foreign funds also hit sentiment on the street.
At close, BSE Sensex was down 1.18 percent or 407.40 points at 34005.76. Sectorally, BSE bankex, finance and teck led the losses with BSE finance closing lower by 1.75 percent. The index opened lower and later slipped below the 34,000-mark to hit a low of 33,849.65. The gauge then recovered briefly to 34,070.73 before dropping again to close lower by 407.40 points, or 1.18 percent, at 34,005.76. This is its weakest closing since January 4 when it had closed at 33,969.64. The broad- based NSE Nifty settled at 10,454.95, down 121.90 points, or 1.15 percent. It moved between 10,398.20 and 10,480.20 in day trade.
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Most Asian shares lower
Asian trading floors were a sea of red once again on Friday as the global rout returned with a vengeance on intensifying fears about tighter US interest rates.
Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai were among the worst hit as investors piled into safe haven assets such as gold and the yen. Japan’s Nikkei fell 2.3 percent and is now at levels not seen since mid-October, while Hong Kong dropped more than three percent to put it on course to wipe out its 2018 gains. Shanghai dived 4.1 percent to seven-month lows. Sydney fell 0.9 percent, Singapore shed 1.7 percent and Seoul was 1.8 percent off. Wellington, Manila and Taipei were also hammered.