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Rally may stall for Taiwan stock market

The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in back-to-back trading days, collecting nearly 100 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 12,190-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Friday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on growing fears of another coronavirus wave. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly in the red and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion. The TSE finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the cement stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks. For the day, the index rose 22.50 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 12,192.69 after trading between 12,181.34 and 12,273.43.

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KSE-100 shoots past 36,000 points

Bulls extended their positions at the Pakistan Stock Exchange for the 10th successive session on Thursday and helped the KSE-100 index power past the 36,000-point mark. The market’s advance was supported by strong investors’ interest, which lifted trading volumes to a seven-month high. At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 447.28 points, or 1.25 percent, to settle at 36,142.17 points. Traded volumes improved 47 percent day-on-day to 467 million shares while traded value increased to $94 million. Overall, trading volumes rose to 467.5 million shares compared with Wednesday’s tally of 317.7 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs15.7 billion. Shares of 378 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 249 stocks closed higher, 109 declined and 20 remained unchanged.

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Sensex, Nifty scale 4-month peaks

Domestic stock markets registered strong gains on Thursday driven by buying interest in banking, financial services and metal shares, continuing a rally after a day’s halt following five straight days of gains. The Sensex index rose as much as 1.31 percent – or 477.29 points – to touch 36,806.30 during the session. The broader Nifty 50 benchmark climbed up 1.22 percent to 10,836.85 at the strongest level recorded during the session. Strength across most sectors supported the markets, however selling pressure in consumer goods stocks limited the upside. Optimism about the corporate earnings season along with hopes of economic recovery supported investor sentiment, according to analysts. The Sensex ended 408.68 points higher at 36,737.69, and the Nifty settled at 10,813.45, up 107.70 points from its previous close. Both indices clocked their highest closing levels recorded since March 6. In the 50-scrip Nifty basket, 35 stocks finished the day stronger. Top percentage gainers were Hindalco, HDFC, SBI, Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel, ending between 3.26 percent and 6.58 percent higher. On the other hand, Bharti Infratel, Coal India, Tech Mahindra, ONGC and Hero MotoCorp, settling with gains of between 0.85 percent and 1.94 percent, were the top Nifty losers. HDFC, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were the biggest boosts to the Sensex, together accounting for a gain of more than 200 points in the index. The Nifty Bank index – which measures the performance of 12 major lenders in the country including SBI and HDFC Bank – ended 1.43 percent higher, having risen as much as 1.83 percent during the session. The Nifty Financial Services index rose 1.58 percent for the day. Financial stocks hold a weightage of more than 34 percent in the Nifty 50 index. Investors look forward to another earnings season, even as COVID-19 cases – both at home at abroad – continue to soar.

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FTSE 100 opens lower as US coronavirus cases jump

The FTSE 100 opened lower as investors took fright at a rise in new coronavirus cases around the world, including in the US and Hong Kong. The UK’s main stock index fell 0.5 percent to 6,017 points. The FTSE 250 index of slightly smaller firms also fell, shedding 0.2 percent. In Europe, Germany’s Dax was 0.5 percent lower. France’s CAC 40 was down 0.7 percent and the pan-European Stoxx 600 had shed 0.4 percent. It came after the US notched up another record day of new coronavirus cases on Thursday, with more than 60,000.

Florida, which reopened some parts of the economy in May, suffered its biggest daily death toll yet.

Shares in Asia were lower as a spike in cases in Hong Kong caused authorities to say they would shut schools.

The semi-autonomous city’s Hang Seng index shed 2.4 percent overnight. Japan’s Nikkei index fell 1.1 percent.

In China, the CSI 300 index fell 1.8 percent. It had been boosted by positive reports in the state-owned press, sending it on an eight-day surge.

But it appears the government has become uneasy about the rally. Two state-owned funds announced they would trim their holdings of stocks overnight.

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S&P 500 down 17 points

Bad news across the economy and industries is driving stocks lower on Friday. The S&P 500 Index is down 17 points, or 0.6 percent on July 9, following multiple bad pieces of news. Another 1.3 million Americans filed for employment last week, sending retail stocks, including Kohl’s and Simon Property Group, down 7.3 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. The government’s weekly petroleum report showed a massive build in inventories, sending oil stocks, including Hess Corp, Apache Corp, Phillips, and ConocoPhillips, down between 5.6 percent and 7.6 percent. Walgreens Boots Alliance reported a loss in its fiscal third quarter, sending shares down 8 percent. U.S. COVID-19 cases continue to accelerate, with the most new cases on record and the death toll on Thursday higher than the prior three days combined. On Fridays’s biggest S&P 500 loser is flooring manufacturer Mohawk Industries, with shares off 21 percent on allegations of fraud by a major investor who has filed suit.

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