Saudi Arabia’s 30 biggest stocks to gain global exposure
Saudi Arabia’s aim to boost foreign investment in the $496 billion Tadawul stock exchange has taken a leap forward with the launch of a new index of the Kingdom’s biggest publicly traded companies. Top index provider MSCI has teamed up with the Saudi Stock Exchange, known locally as the Tadawul, to launch the tradeable MSCI Tadawul 30 Index.
The index will provide investors with a useful benchmark of the largest liquid companies in Saudi Arabia and serve as the basis for development of a Saudi-listed index futures contract, MSCI and Tadawul said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia’s new index will initially compromise the 30 companies with the largest market capitalization on the Tadawul. It will be rebalanced four times a year, and the number of securities may vary within a range of 25-35 securities to reflect changes in the underlying market, the pair said. Individual companies are capped at a maximum 15 percent weighting in the index.
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KSE-100 rises 313 points as investors buy bank stocks
The KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday extended gains from the previous session and advanced over 300 points following the announcement of much-awaited monetary policy. Bulls dominated the stock market, pushing the index above 41,100-point mark.
The benchmark index shot up following the start of trading, but the momentum eased towards the end of first session. Nevertheless, the index managed to accumulate more than 200 points. Overall, trading volumes decreased to 228.9 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 239.5 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs8.5 billion. Shares of 353 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 222 stocks closed higher, 112 declined and 19 remained unchanged. The Bank of Punjab was the volume leader with 33.38 million shares, gaining Rs0.33 to close at Rs13.58.
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US stocks end week on mixed note
Wall Street was mixed on Friday, as optimism from a surge in January US job growth was offset by a weaker-than-expected outlook from Amazon.com Inc that battered retail stocks. The online retail heavyweight fell 5.3 percent after its quarterly sales forecast fell short of Wall Street estimates, overshadowing its record sales and profit during the holiday season.
Those results put the Nasdaq in negative territory, while retailers Walmart Inc and Kohl’s Corp dropped more than 2 percent and Macy’s Inc fell 1.7 percent. The S&P consumer discretionary index fell 1.8 percent.
A US Labor Department report showed nonfarm payrolls jumped by 304,000 jobs last month, the largest gain since February 2018 and beating economists’ expectations for an increase of 165,000. That report, along with better-than-expected ISM manufacturing activity numbers for January, pointed to underlying strength in the economy despite an uncertain outlook that has left the Federal Reserve wary about more interest rate hikes this year.
At 2:14 p.m. ET (1914 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.15 percent at 25,037.53 points, while the S&P 500 had lost 0.06 percent to 2,702.38.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.35 percent to 7,255.92.
Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp jumped more than 3 percent after the oil majors reported better-than-expected quarterly profits, boosting the Dow Jones industrial index. The S&P energy index rallied 1.78 percent, also helped by higher oil prices.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.22-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.30-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 48 new highs and 15 new lows.
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India’s Sensex closes 212 points higher, nifty ends at 10,893
India stock market closed on a higher note as Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced higher rural spending as well as tax exemptions in his budget speech. After surging over 500 points to hit the day’s high of 36,778.14, the S&P BSE Sensex ended 212.74 points, or 0.59 percent higher at 36,469.43.
Similarly, the NSE’s benchmark index Nifty finished 62.70 points, or 0.58 percent higher at 10,893.65 after touching the day’s high of 10,983.45 from the previous close. The gains on Dalal street were led by buying in auto, IT, FMCG and pharma stocks. Heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC, Maruti, Infosys and Hero MotoCorp contributed most to the advances on the Sensex. Thirty four out of 50 Nifty stocks finished in the green.
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Tokyo’s Nikkei index ends flat
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index ended flat on Friday as investors sought fresh trading clues and watched individual corporate earnings reports. The Nikkei 225 index closed up just 0.07 percent or 14.90 points at 20,788.39, while the broader Topix index was down 0.18 percent or 2.86 points at 1,564.63.
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France stocks move higher
France stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher. At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 added 0.53 percent to hit a new 1-month high, while the SBF 120 index added 0.51 percent. The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were ArcelorMittal SA, which rose 3.49 percent or 0.705 points to trade at 20.00 at the close.
Meanwhile, Kering SA added 1.99 percent or 8.70 points to end at 446.20 and Publicis Groupe SA was up 1.88 percent or 1.00 points to 54.30 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Societe Generale SA, which fell 2.41 percent or 0.66 points to trade at 26.48 at the close. Capgemini SE declined 1.14 percent or 1.10 points to end at 95.38 and Renault SA (PA:RENA) was down 0.71 percent or 0.44 points to 61.41.
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FTSE 100 ends higher for fourth session
Britain’s FTSE 100 closed higher for the fourth straight session on Friday as signs the United States and China could soon settle their protracted trade dispute offset disappointing data from China, while TalkTalk sank after warning rising costs would hit its earnings.
The FTSE 100 closed up 0.7 percent, posting its best week since December 2016, and the more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 closed 0.5 percent higher, outperforming European stocks. Markets got a boost when US President Donald Trump said he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping soon to try to seal a comprehensive trade deal and the top US negotiator reported“substantial progress” in two days of high-level talks.