GCC stock markets expected to witness flurry of IPOs
The Gulf stock markets are expected to have another busy year of initial public offerings in 2022 with Saudi Arabia’s bourse said to be currently reviewing 50 IPO requests. “We expect Tadawul and ADX to be very busy. The major difference in 2022 is that the Dubai financial market will be busy too,” Reuters quoted Christian Cabanne, Bank of America’s head of equity capital markets for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, as saying. Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange is also considering whether to allow blank-check companies, known as SPACs, to list, according to the Saudi Tadawul Group chief executive. A SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company, raises money to acquire a private firm with the purpose of taking it public and allowing the target to list more quickly on an exchange rather than via a traditional IPO.
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Nasdaq composite index closes at 15,566.14
Friday’s session closes with the NASDAQ Composite Index at 15,566.14. The total shares traded for the NASDAQ was over 3.32 billion. Declining stocks led advancers by 1.53 to 1 ratio. There were 1885 advancers and 2879 decliners for the day. On the NASDAQ Stock Exchange 22 stocks reached a 52 week high and 89 those reaching lows totaled. The most active, advancers, decliners, unusual volume and most active by dollar volume can be monitored intraday on theMost Active Stocks page. The NASDAQ 100 index closed up .65 percent for the day; a total of 105.08 points. The current value is 16,254.65.
The Dow Jones index closed up .31 percent for the day; a total of 110.62 points. The current value is 35,865.31. Boeing Company (The)(BA) had the largest percent change down (-1.7 percent) while Cisco Systems, Inc.(CSCO) had the largest percent change gain rising 2.72 percent.
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Sensex, Nifty end flat
The key benchmark indices languished in the negative zone, exhibiting lacklustre movement for the major part of the trading, before recouping losses at close led by fresh buying in auto and financial shares. The BSE benchmark index, the Sensex, opened 110-odd points lower at 58,697, and after briefing sneaking into the positive zone, fell to a low of 58,415 – down nearly 400 points. However, the Sensex eventually ended the day with a minor loss of 20 points at 58,787. In the process, it did snap its three-day winning streak. For the week, the BSE index was up 1.9 percent (1,091 points). The NSE Nifty declined to a low of 17,405, before settling six points lower at 17,511. Asian Paints was the major gainer among the Sensex 30 stock, it surged 3 percent to Rs 3,277. SBI, Mahindra & Mahindra and TCS were the other notable gainers. On the flip side, Titan, HDFC, Axis Bank and Kotak Bank were the notable losers in trade on Friday.
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Stocks dip in Asia ahead of US inflation figures
Asian markets dropped on Friday, following a weak lead from Wall Street and as investors awaited a key US inflation report due later in the day. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 1.07 percent down at 23,995.72, while Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down one percent at the close. During the previous trading day, European and US stock markets dropped as traders tracked developments surrounding the Omicron coronavirus variant and fallout from the Chinese property crisis — snapping a three-day rally. Traders were awaiting the latest US consumer price data, set for release Friday, which is expected to show inflation climbing higher last month. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.3 percent to 7,301.77 points, after official data showed Britain’s economy slowing even before the onset of the Omicron variant. In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX index shed 0.4 percent and the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.5 percent.
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FTSE 100 climbs back towards flat
The FTSE 100 is creeping up towards the flat line as the session goes on, currently down 6 points at just under 7,315. British American Tobacco PLC and Berkeley Group Holdings plc are leading the risers. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank’s research team has shares the results of its special 2022 global financial market sentiment survey conducted earlier in the week with over 750 market professionals across the world. The average expected return for the S&P 500 next year is just 4.2 percent, according to the survey respondents, well below average annual returns over the last decade, while US CPI expectations are for 3.8 percent, with average expectations for the next five years continuing to drift higher, at 2.7 percent.
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European stocks drop at open
European stock markets retreated at the start of trading Friday following losses in Asia and overnight on Wall Street, with traders awaiting key US inflation data. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.3 percent to 7,301.77 points after official data showed Britain’s economy slowing even before the onset of the Omicron variant. In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX index shed 0.4 percent to 15,578.29 points and the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.5 percent to 6,975.70.
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Japan stocks lower at close of trade
Japan stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Real Estate sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 1.00 percent. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2616 to 930 and 226 ended unchanged. The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0 percent to 21.03. Crude oil for January delivery was down 0.16 percent or 0.11 to $70.83 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February fell 0.27 percent or 0.20 to hit $74.22 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.26 percent or 4.55 to trade at $1772.15 a troy ounce.