Global Stock Market Trading
U.S. stocks close sharply higher in volatile trade
U.S. stock benchmarks rebounded sharply Friday afternoon in whipsaw trade, as the rise in bond yields steadied, after a stronger-than-expected monthly jobs update from the Labor Department that offered evidence of an economy recovering from the effects of COVID-19. All major sectors in the S&P 500 index gained while the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed more than 1.5 percent as giants Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. recovered but the index still closed lower for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.85 percent closed higher by 572.16 points, or 1.9 percent, around 31496.30, after trading as high as 31,580.33 and a low at 30,766,81 and posted a 1.82 percent this week. The S&P 500 index SPX, +1.95 percent added 73.47 points to close at 3,841.94, a gain of 2 percent and a 0.81 percent gain for this week The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.55 percent gained 196.68 points, or 1.6 percent, to settle at 12,920.15, its best one-day rebound in about a year but still ended down 2.06 percent this week
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Indices end lower for 2nd day; Sensex drops 441 pts but up 2.5pc
Domestic markets snapped the streak of weekly losses even as sombre global mood butchered bulls at the bourses for two days straight. A rise in Brent crude prices along with a jump in bond yields acted as the double whammy on stocks on Friday, pushing benchmark equity indices down by nearly a percent. However, a tilt towards defensives towards the fag-end of the session lifted markets off-lows.
Among headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex ended at 50,405 levels, erasing 441 points or 0.87 percent. From the day’s high of 50,886, the index tumbled 726 points to hit a low of 50,160. Financial, pharma, and IT counters were the top drags on the index with IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Sun Pharma, and HDFC leading the list of losers. All these stocks were down in the range of 1.7 percent to 5 percent.
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American markets plunge as chairman attempts to reassure investors
North American stock markets dropped Thursday despite efforts by the chairman of the Federal Reserve to reassure investors that interest rates aren’t about to increase.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 194.95 points at 18,125.72, despite strength in the energy sector as oil reached its highest level in more than two years.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 345.95 points at 30,924.14 and the S&P 500 index lost 51.25 points at 3,768.47.
The Nasdaq composite fell 274.28 points or 2.1 percent to 12,723.47, the lowest level since early January.
Market jitters followed as the 10-year U.S. bond yields again increased above 1.5 percent.
Investors are worried that the U.S. vaccine rollout will spur a quicker economic recovery and prompt the central bank to hike interest rates sooner than they expect.
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UK stock market predictions for this year
What this means is that a UK stock market forecast needs to look at the wider picture, rather than focus on the prospects of just the British economy. More of that in a moment. First, what have been the UK stock market trends?
In broad brush strokes, the FTSE 100 has almost clawed back the ground lost in the carnage of Spring 2020. On March 4, 2020, it stood at 6,815.60, on pretty much the eve of the dawning realisation that the coronavirus was not some remote Far Eastern phenomenon but a real and present danger to the societies and economies of the West.
As Britain and other European countries locked down, with colossal implications for economic activity, the FTSE 100 plunged, hitting a 12-month low of 4,993.89 on March 23. This month, and the one that followed, formed the bleakest period of the coronavirus crisis; it was in April that oil prices briefly turned negative to the tune of more than $30 a barrel.
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Saudi stock main index ends trading lower at 9,242.28 points
Saudi Stock Exchange’s main index ended trading lower, losing 68 points to close, at 9,242.28 points.
The total value of the trading reported was 13.8 billion, while the toll of shares traded was more than 507 million, divided into over 557,000 deals.
The Saudi Parallel Equity Market Index (NOMU) ended the day losing 251.05 points, to close, at 25,914.50 points, with a valuation of more than SR30 million and an overall tally of more than 296,000 stocks traded and divided into as many as 1,003 deals.
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Taiwan stocks tumble following tech share rout in U.S. market
Taipei Shares in Taiwan plunged 1.88 percent to close below 16,000 points on Thursday following an overnight dive in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index in the United States.
The Taiwan Stock Exchange Weighted Index (TAIEX) fell 305.32 points, breaching the 16,000 barrier to close at 15,906.41, below the monthly moving average of 15,951. Turnover totaled NT$327.68 billion (US$11.77 billion) during the trading session.
Contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) led the main board, moving lower throughout the session after their American depositary receipts (ADRs) dropped 2.47 percent and 3.72 percent, respectively, in the U.S. overnight.
TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, fell 3.38 percent to close at NT$601.00, while UMC dropped 5.49 percent to end at NT$49.05.
Also in the electronics sector, Largan Precision Co., a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc., lost 1.89 percent to close at NT$3,375.00.
Bucking the downward trend, almost all stocks in the pulp and paper industry closed higher, with YFY Inc. climbing 3.04 percent to end at NT$28.85.