STOCK EXCHANGES AROUND THE WORLD
Pakistan stocks index loses 73 points
Bearish momentum once again prevailed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday as the KSE-100 index slipped 73 points in a highly volatile session. Range bound trading was witnessed throughout the day.
The index spiked as soon as trading began but volatility emerged immediately as the index oscillated between red and green zones. Nevertheless, the first session ended with a gain of 62 points. At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 72.93 points, or 0.23percent, to settle at 32,111.1 points. Overall, trading volumes increased to 153.3 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 136.6 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs5.8 billion. Shares of 351 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 138 stocks closed higher, 195 declined and 18 remained unchanged. Maple Leaf Cement was the volume leader with 18 million shares, losing Rs0.98 to close at Rs15.74.
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US stocks slip after Chinese team cancels visit
Wall Street dropped on Friday, and also finished the week lower, after a Chinese agriculture delegation canceled a planned visit to Montana, dampening optimism about US-China trade talks. The delegates, who had been set to visit US farm states next week, will return to China sooner than originally scheduled, the Montana Farm Bureau said.
Major stock indexes fell into negative territory after the cancellation, which came as trade talks were held in Washington and U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted a complete trade deal, not just an agreement for China to buy more US agricultural goods. Before the news, the S&P 500 and Dow industrials were in positive territory.
Trade optimism in recent weeks helped elevate the S&P 500Â to just shy of its all-time high hit in July. Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors fell on Friday. The S&P 500 consumer discretionary index and tariff-sensitive S&P 500 information technology index declined the most, down 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively. The Philadelphia chip index slid 1.8%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.59% to end the week at 26,934.46 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.49% to 2,991.99.
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FTSE 100 loses ground as exporters slip, rolls-royce tumbles
Britain’s top share index edged lower on Friday as exporter stocks weakened on the back of gains in sterling driven by rising hopes of a Brexit deal, while Rolls-Royce tumbled after delays to repairs of its Trent 1000 engines.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.3 percent in early trade, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 index was 0.4 percent higher as it tracked gains in the local currency. Dollar earners such as British American Tobacco, Unilever and HSBC weighed on the main index. BAT also fell on a Dutch media report on tax liabilities and worries over stricter regulatory clampdowns in the United States, according to traders. Rolls-Royce tumbled 3.6 percent after the engine-maker said it expects problems with its Trent 1000 engines to take longer than expected to fix. However, housebuilders, which are sensitive to an economic impact of a no-deal Brexit, cushioned losses on the main index.
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India indices post biggest 1-day gain in 10 years
It was a historic day for the India equity markets on Friday as the frontline indices rallied over 5 per cent after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced reduction in corporation tax. The FM announced that the effective corporate tax rate will be lowered to 25.75 per cent.
Benchmark indices – S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty50 posted their biggest single-day gain in 10 years while the Nifty Bank and Nifty MidCap index posted the biggest-ever single-day gain. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed stocks saw an increase of nearly Rs 7 lakh crore. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex added 1,921 points or 5.32 percent to settle at 38,014.62. On NSE, the Nifty50 index ended at 11,274 levels, up 569 points or 5.32 per cent, with 44 out of 50 constituents advancing and 6 ending in the red.
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Japan stocks higher; Nikkei 225 up 0.18pc
Japan stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Real Estate sectors led shares higher. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.18 percent. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2388 to 1053 and 253 ended unchanged.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0.00 percent to 17.97. Crude oil for October delivery was up 0.67 percent or 0.36 to $54.30 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in November rose 0.55percent or 0.32 to hit $58.58 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.67percent or 10.40 to trade at $1545.50 a troy ounce.
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France stocks higher by the weekend
France stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Foods & Drugs, Gas & Water and General Financial sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 added 0.56 percent to hit a new 5-year high, while the SBF 120 index climbed 0.47 percent. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 278 to 273 and 103 ended unchanged. The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 2.16 percent to 14.11. EUR/USD was down 0.30percent to 1.1007, while EUR/GBP rose 0.05 percent to 0.8818. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.37 percent at 98.213.
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Germany stocks mixed at close of trade
Germany stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Telecoms and Software sectors led shares higher while losses in the Technology, Construction and Retail sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Frankfurt, the DAX added 0.08 percent, while the MDAX index fell 0.75 percent, and the TecDAX index declined 0.88 percent. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by 336 to 324 and 99 ended unchanged. The DAX volatility index, which measures the implied volatility of DAX options, was down 3.76 percent to 14.34. Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.56 percent or 8.45 to $1514.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.69percent or 0.40 to hit $58.59 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.59percent or 0.38 to trade at $64.78 a barrel.