US stocks rebound after a week of losses
The US benchmark S&P 500 stock index snapped a six-day losing streak on Friday as technology stocks recovered after a week of losses, with investors looking for bargains ahead of the third quarter earnings reporting season.
Even the hard-hit S&P500 energy and financial sectors managed to close the session with slight gains after a late afternoon rally.
The S&P technology index .SPLRCT gained 3.2 percent on the day, showing its strongest one-day gain since March 26, although it still registered its biggest weekly drop since March 23.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 287.16 points, or 1.15 percent, to 25,339.99, the S&P 500 gained 38.76 points, or 1.42 percent, to 2,767.13 and the Nasdaq Composite added 167.83 points, or 2.29 percent, to 7,496.89.
The technology sector’s biggest boosts were Apple, and Microsoft which rose more than 3.0 percent. Visa and Mastercard both climbed almost 5.0 percent, boosted by strong credit card sales included in bank earnings reports, according to Oakbook’s Sampson.
The S&P500’s financial sector ended the day up 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 banks subsector .SPXBK closed down 0.4 percent, well above its session low. The biggest drag on the subsector was JPMorgan Chase & Co, which closed down 1.0 percent despite reporting a quarterly profit that beat expectations.
PNC Financial led the percentage losers among bank stocks, with a 5.6 percent drop after the regional bank reported disappointing quarterly loan growth and said it expected only a small improvement in lending this quarter.
The three gainers among banks included Citigroup, which rose 2.0 percent, and Wells Fargo, which eked out a 1.3 percent gain after upbeat results.
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Pakistan stocks hammered as KSE-100 loses 880 points
Stocks were hammered on Friday as the KSE-100 index plunged over 950 points in intra-day trading, slipping below the 37,500 mark. It closed the day in the red with some recovery.
Market participants reacted to a sharp dip in the foreign currency reserves held by the central bank, which slipped another $101 million and settled at $8.3 billion. The foreign exchange reserves have been on a downward path for seven successive weeks.
The KSE-100 index remained on a downward trajectory from the moment trading began as selling pressure mounted. At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 880.37 points or 2.29 percent to settle at 37,517.93. Overall, trading volumes increased to 135.4 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 134.6 million.
The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.5 billion. Shares of 363 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 60 stocks closed higher, 288 declined and 15 remained unchanged. TRG Pakistan was the volume leader with 10 million shares, losing Rs1.18 to close at Rs22.54. It was followed by K-Electric with 8.9 million shares, gaining Rs0.10 to close at Rs5.21 and Engro Polymer with 8.7 million shares, losing Rs0.75 to close at Rs29.36. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs76.2 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
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Tokyo stocks down, extending global rout
Tokyo’s key Nikkei index down one percent on Friday, extending losses on global bourses amid lingering worries about higher interest rates and trade wars.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which plunged 3.89 percent the previous day, was down 1.06 percent, or 239.23 points, at 22,351.63 at the open, while the broader Topix index was down 0.66 percent or 11.18 points at 1,690.68. The dollar fetched 112.19 yen in early Asian trade, against 112.07 yen in New York 112.17 yen in Tokyo late Thursday. In individual stocks trade, banks were among the losers, with Mitsubish UFJ Financial down 1.61 percent at 6,829 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial down 1.46 percent at 4,429 yen.
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Hong Kong stocks close up
Hong Kong stocks ended sharply higher Friday as Chinese trade data came in better than expected despite the tariff war with Washington and following the previous day’s heavy losses.
The Hang Seng index jumped 2.12 percent, or 535.12 points to close at 25,801.49. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.91 percent, or 23.45 points, to 2,606.91, while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, added 0.19 percent, or 2.46 points, to 1,296.36.
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Indian shares surge over 2pc, most since may 2016
Indian shares jumped over 2 percent on Friday, the most since late May 2016, with a stronger rupee and an overnight fall in crude prices bringing some relief after the previous session’s sharp sell-off.
The benchmark BSE index rose 2.15 percent to 34,733.58, and closed the week 1 percent higher. The broader NSE index climbed 2.32 percent to 10,472.50, ending the week 1.5 percent higher. Both indexes posted their first weekly gain in six. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd was the top drag on the NSE index, with shares falling 3 percent over margin concerns.
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Sri Lanka stocks lower; cse all-share down 0.40pc
Sri Lanka stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Power & Energy, Trading and Diversified Holdings sectors led shares lower. At the close in Colombo, the CSE All-Share fell 0.40 percent.
The best performers of the session on the CSE All-Share were Carson Cumberbatch PLC, which rose 15.03 percent or 24.80 points to trade at 189.80 at the close. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Colombo Stock Exchange by 82 to 62 and 64 ended unchanged.
Shares in Nation Lanka Finance PLC fell to all time lows; losing 12.50 percent or 0.100 to 0.700. Crude oil for November delivery was up 0.72 percent or 0.51 to $71.48 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in December rose 0.34 percent or 0.27 to hit $80.53 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.28 percent or 3.40 to trade at $1224.20 a troy ounce.