Pakistan Stocks Post Minor Recovery
The KSE-100 broke a three-day positive streak, ending negative on Friday to mark the end of the fiscal year at just below 42,000 points. The market kicked off on a positive note but soon succumbed to selling pressure and thereafter, fell consistently to go below the 41,800-point mark.
Cherry picking during the final hours meant stocks staged a minor recovery but not enough to end positive. At close, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 86.95 points or 0.21 percent to settle at 41,910.90. Overall, trading volumes increased to 166 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 159.8 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs6.1 billion. Shares of 341 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 170 stocks closed higher, 160 declined while 11 remained unchanged.
K-Electric Ltd was the volume leader with 12.1 million shares, gaining Rs0.23 to close at Rs5.68. It was followed by Silk Bank Ltd with 9.6 million shares, gaining Rs0.2 to close at Rs1.36 and Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Ltd (XR) with 9.4 million shares, gaining Rs0.25 to close at Rs11.35. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of Rs322.7 million worth of shares during the trading session, according to data compiled by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan.
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Nike And Banks Propel Wall Street Gains
A surge in Nike Inc shares and a rally in bank stocks lifted Wall Street’s major stock indexes on Friday, though all three were still on track to post weekly declines.
Shares of Nike soared 13 percent to hit an all-time high of $81 after the world’s largest footwear maker reported a return to growth in North America in the last quarter and gave an upbeat forecast for the year. Nike shares were last up 11.5 percent to $79.91, on track for their biggest one-day gain in nearly four years. Nike was the top boost to the Dow and the S&P 500.
The S&P 500 bank sector index rose 1.1 percent after touching its highest level in a week as US lenders cleared the second part of the Federal Reserve’s annual stress tests.
Wells Fargo & Co led the gains, jumping 4.4 percent, while shares of Citigroup Inc, US Bancorp, M&T Bank Corp and SunTrust Banks Inc were all up more than 1 percent.
Investors took in stride U.S. Commerce Department data that showed consumer spending slowing as the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, a measure of inflation, hit the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent annual target for the first time in six years. On several occasions this year, worries of rising inflation and a subsequent economic slowdown have sent stocks tumbling.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 217.09 points, or 0.9 percent, to 24,433.14, the S&P 500 gained 19.76 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,736.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 46.61 points, or 0.62 percent, to 7,550.29.
Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc jumped 15.3 percent, the most on the S&P 500, after rival Galapagos NV’s cystic fibrosis program reported disappointing trial data.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.65-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.50-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 47 new highs and 59 new lows.
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Tokyo Stocks Open Higher As Yen Stays Weak
Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday, aided by gains on Wall Street and the yen’s downwards trend. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index edged up 0.24 percent or 52.62 points to 22,323.01 in early trade while the broader Topix index was up 0.02 percent or 0.38 points at 1,727.38.
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Hong Kong Stocks Climb
Hong Kong stocks headed into the break with strong gains on Friday, putting traders on course for a positive end to a painful week as they fret over a possible China-US trade war. The Hang Seng Index climbed 1.14 percent, or 324.58 points, to 28,821.90.
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Australian, New Zealand Stocks Up
Australian shares are likely to edge higher at open on Friday, in line with Wall Street stocks, with energy stocks poised to drive gains on rising oil prices.
Oil prices climbed on Thursday, with US crude hitting a three-and-a-half year high, bolstered by supply concerns due to US sanctions that could cause a large drop in crude exports from Iran.
The local share price index futures rose 0.2 percent or 13 points to 6185, a 30.4-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark rose 0.3 percent on Thursday. New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.1 percent at 2215 GMT.
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India’s Sensex Jumps Nearly 300 Points
India’s Sensex, Nifty rise on Friday. Markets opened on a positive note on the week’s last session on fresh buying by investors as the July derivatives contracts started on a strong note amid recovery in the rupee, reported Press Trust of India.
Sensex traded 293 points higher at 35,331. The NSE’s Nifty rose 95 points, or 0.9 percent, to trade at 10,685.
Brokers said building up of bets following the beginning of the July futures and options (F&O) series coupled with a firming trend at other Asian markets and overnight gains at Wall Street influenced trading sentiment here. Besides, the rupee recovering from its record low and easing crude oil prices supported the recovery, they added.
The top gainers among Sensex stocks were Tata Steel (2.36 percent), ONGC (2.11 percent) and State Bank of India (SBI: 2.36 percent). Among sectoral indices, BSE oil & gas rose 1.92 percent and BSE metal jumped 2 percent. The major laggards were Axis Bank (0.91 percent), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.9 percent) and IndusInd Bank (1.11 percent). On Thursday, INR hit its all-time low on rising crude oil prices and other reasons. However, the rupee recovered in the opening trade on Friday, while the government assured enough firepower of foreign exchange reserves to battle with rupee’s decline.