STOCK EXCHANGES AROUND THE WORLD
US stocks in broad-based rally
US stocks rose in a broad-based rally on Friday as stronger-than-expected job growth in April coupled with muted wage gains left investors upbeat about the outlook for the economy and interest rates. The Nasdaq registered a record high close, while the S&P 500 ended just shy of a record high finish.
The Labor Department said employers added 263,000 jobs in April, which blew past expectations, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent, the lowest level since December 1969. Average hourly earnings came in just shy of expectations, indicating muted inflationary pressure. The data supports the Federal Reserve’s patient stance toward raising interest rates, which is a positive for stocks.
Boosting the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, Amazon.com Inc rose 3.2%, after CNBC reported that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc has bought shares of the internet retailing giant for the first time. The consumer discretionary sector rose 1.5%, leading a rally among the 11 major S&P sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 197.16 points, or 0.75%, to 26,504.95, the S&P 500 gained 28.12 points, or 0.96%, to 2,945.64, and the Nasdaq Composite added 127.22 points, or 1.58%, to 8,164.00.
For the week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 0.2% while the Dow slipped 0.2%.
The upbeat reports have turned around the S&P 500 earnings estimate for the first quarter to a rise of almost 1% compared with the 2% decline projected at the start of April.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 3.77-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.85-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 36 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 91 new highs and 30 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.47 billion shares, compared to the
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KSE-100 extends losses, falls 425 points
Pakistan stock market continued to remain under bearish pressure on Friday and the benchmark index lost 425 points, which was the fourth consecutive session in the red.
At the end of trading, the benchmark KSE 100-share Index recorded a decrease of 424.68 points, or 1.16percent, to settle at 36,122.95. Overall, trading volumes decreased to 64.3 million shares compared with Thursday’s tally of 67.9 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs2.9 billion. Shares of 323 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 88 stocks closed higher, 218 declined and 17 remained unchanged.
Unity Foods was the volume leader with 9.1 million shares, losing Rs0.09 to close at Rs12.46.
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India’s Sensex, Nifty end flat
Benchmark indices ended on Friday’s session with marginal cuts after erasing its intraday gains in the final hour. IT stocks were the top drags and remained subdued throughout the day after the US-based IT services company Cognizant nearly halved its 2019 growth guidance.
The S&P BSE Sensex settled 18 points lower for the day at 38,963, with TCS, Hindustan Unilever, TATA Steel, HCL Tech and Infosys dragging the index down. Twelve out of the 30 constituents of the BSE ended the day in red, while the rest settled in green.
The broader index Nifty50 was also down 12.5 points, or 0.11 per cent, to end at 11,712 levels. The market breadth was tilted in favour of declines. About 1,031 stocks fell and 702 shares advanced on National Stock Exchange.
On a weekly basis, the S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.27 per cent lower while and the NSE Nifty50 slipped 0.36 per cent. This was the indices’ biggest weekly loss since February 11.
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France stocks move up
France stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Gas & Water, General Financial and Foods & Drugs sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.18percent, while the SBF 120 index climbed 0.11percent. The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were AXA SA, which rose 1.94percent or 0.44 points to trade at 23.07 at the close. Meanwhile, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE added 1.15percent or 4.05 points to end at 355.05 and Societe Generale SA was up 1.13percent or 0.32 points to 28.70 in late trade. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 296 to 266 and 86 ended unchanged. Shares in LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE rose to all time highs; rising 1.15 percent or 4.05 to 355.05. The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 7.24percent to 13.10.
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Germany stocks rise
Germany stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer & Cyclical, Retail and Basic Resources sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Frankfurt, the DAX rose 0.55 percent to hit a new 6-months high, while the MDAX index added 0.31 percent, and the TecDAX index gained 0.08percent. The best performers of the session on the DAX were Adidas AG, which rose 8.15 percent or 18.65 points to trade at 247.55 at the close. Meanwhile, Fresenius Medical Care KGAA ST added 1.41 percent or 1.060 points to end at 76.320 and Fresenius SE & Co KGAA O.N. was up 1.34 percent or 0.680 points to 51.430 in late trade.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by 416 to 274 and 90 ended unchanged. The DAX volatility index, which measures the implied volatility of DAX options, was down 4.61percent to 14.06.
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FTSE 100 flounders again
The FTSE 100 ended lower for the third straight session as copper miners fell and exporter stocks struggled despite weakness in sterling, while Metro Bank tanked after an accounting error caused quarterly profit to halve.
Strong results from Shell and Smith & Nephew capped losses, but the FTSE 100 was still held to a one-month low, falling 0.5 percent.
The FTSE 250 was 0.6 percent lower. Sterling had initially gained on upbeat Brexit sentiment, but its rise was halted after the Bank of England voted unanimously to keep interest rates steady and warned Brexit continued to cloud the outlook for monetary policy.
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Tom Lee raises year-end S&P 500 price target
The S&P 500 will rise an additional 7percent by the end of the year, longtime Wall Street bull Tom Lee predicted Friday.
In a note to clients, the co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors raised his S&P 500 year-end target to 3,125 from 2,925, which represents a 7 percent gain from Thursday’s 2,917 close. As of Thursday, the S&P 500 has risen more than 17percent this year. US stocks were trading higher Friday after a report from the Labor Department showed US job creation was stronger than expected in April. The market had been under serious pressure since early October in part on concerns about a trade war and the aggressiveness of the Fed’s rate-hike policy.