Selling pressure mounts at Pakistan stocks
Bears continued to rule the stock market on Friday as selling pressure pulled the benchmark index down by 462 points, which ended its second successive session in the red.
The last trading day of the week was marred by uncertainty and investors chose to remain on the sidelines before the central bank’s announcement of monetary policy.
At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 462.07 points or 1.09% to settle at 42,074.09. Shares of 313 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 78 stocks closed higher, 214 declined while 21 remained unchanged.
Overall, trading volumes declined to 109.6 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 127.1 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.6 billion. Pak Elektron was the volume leader with 11.5 million shares, losing Rs1.69 to close at Rs34.33. It was followed by First Dawood Investment Bank with 10.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.3 to close at Rs5.06 and TRG Pakistan with 7.7 million shares, losing Rs1.29 to close at Rs25.73. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs144.6 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
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US DOW, S&P ease on oil prices fall
The S&P 500 and the Dow eased on Friday after a steep drop in oil prices pressured energy stocks, but losses were limited by gains in chipmakers and retail stocks.
The S&P energy index slid 2.6 percent and registered its biggest daily percentage drop since early February, while Chevron dropped 3.5 percent and Exxon Mobil fell 1.9 percent and were among the biggest drags on the Dow and S&P 500.
The S&P 500 banks index fell 0.4 percent after US Treasury yields hit their lowest in three weeks.
Stock markets this week also have been roiled by trade tensions with China, a US threat of imposing tariffs on imported cars and uncertainty over a US-North Korea summit.
President Donald Trump said on Friday the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could still take place on June 12 as originally planned, a day after canceling it.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58.67 points, or 0.24 percent, to 24,753.09, the S&P 500 lost 6.43 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,721.33 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.43 points, or 0.13 percent, to 7,433.85.
For the week, the Dow was up 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.1 percent.
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China stocks see worst week in over a month
China’s major stock indexes fell on Friday to post their worst week in more than one month, as sentiment soured after US President Donald Trump called off a planned June meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.3 percent to 3,816.50 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended down 0.4 percent at 3,141.30 points. For the week, SSEC slid 1.6 percent, while CSI300 declined 2.2 percent, posting their worst weekly drops since late April. Most sectors lost ground on Friday, but consumer and healthcare firms gained, as investors sought shelter in the two defensive sectors. Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.07 percent while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 0.06 percent.
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Britain’s FTSE rebounds
Kingfisher led a rebound in UK shares on Friday amid relief on global markets about Pyongyang’s measured response to the canceling of the summit between the United States and North Korea.
In early trade, the blue chip FTSE 100 rose 0.32 percent at 7,740.47 points but was nevertheless set to post a slight weekly loss, breaking an eight-week run of gains. At the opposite side of the trading floor, Royal Mail shares sustained the heaviest losses, down 2.9 percent as broker Berenberg downgraded the stock to “sell” on increasing growth and profit risks. It also noted that complying with new EU regulations to protect privacy may weigh on marketing activities.
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Tokyo stocks see limited gains
Tokyo stocks closed slightly higher on bargain-buying Friday but gains were capped by concern about Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of next month’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The Nikkei 225 inched up 0.06 percent, or 13.78 points, to 22,450.79 but was down 2.09 percent over the week. The broader Topix index slipped 0.22 percent or 3.95 points to 1,771.70, logging a weekly drop of 2.40 percent. Sentiment was also soured by worries that that Trump could impose tariffs of 25 percent on car imports after his commerce secretary called for a probe into the auto industry on national security grounds.
Carmakers lost ground, with Toyota ending 1.29 percent lower at 7,115 yen and Honda off 0.93 percent at 3,498 yen.
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Indian shares end higher
Indian shares ended higher on Friday helped by gains in financials such as HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, after the rupee firmed up against the dollar in late trade.
The Reserve Bank of India may have sold USD/INR currency futures, NewsRise Financial reported, citing dealers.
The benchmark BSE index closed 0.76 percent higher at 34,924.87 while the broader NSE index ended up 0.87 percent at 10,605.15. The BSE index gained 0.22 percent for the week while the NSE index rose 0.18 percent. Both indexes registered a seventh weekly gain in nine.
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TSX slips at open as oil prices fall
Canada’s main stock index opened slightly lower on Friday, weighed down by the energy index as oil prices fell more than 2 percent towards $77 a barrel.
At 9:31 a.m. ET (1331 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 38.99 points, or 0.24 percent, at 16,074.63.
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Asian markets decline
Asian markets mostly fell on Friday as Donald Trump shocked the world by pulling out of next month’s historic summit with Kim Jong Un, though analysts said the losses were tempered by hopes the talks can be rekindled.
Traders had already been nervous in recent days after the US president warned he could pull out of the June 12 meeting with the North Korean leader, while also voicing his displeasure at a deal to avert a trade war with China and threaten tariffs on car imports.