STOCK EXCHANGES AROUND THE WORLD.

Byline: S.KAMAL HAYDER KAZMI

DOW INCREASES MORE THAN 400 POINTS

Stocks rose on Friday even after the ugliest monthly jobs report ever as investors bet the worst of the coronavirus and its impact on the economy has passed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 455.43 points, or 1.9 percent, to 24,3331.32, closing near its session high. The SandP 500 gained 1.6 percent, or 48.61 points, to 2,929.80, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.5 percent, or 141.66 points, to 9,121.32. All three averages posted their first weekly advance in three. The Dow and SandP 500 were up 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent for the week, respectively, while the Nasdaq jumped 6 percent. The Labor Department said a record 20.5 million jobs were lost last month, adding the unemployment rate jumped to 14.7 percent from 4.4 percent. Both the spike in job losses and the unemployment-rate surge are postWorld War II records. To be sure, neither print was as bad as feared. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a loss of 21.5 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 16 percent.

STOCKS DECLINE DESPITE EASING OF LOCKDOWN

The Bearish trend continued at the stock market on Friday as the KSE-100 index slipped further amid lacklustre trading interest. The Benchmark index opened up and after a brief advance the momentum could not be sustained. Investors remained on the sidelines as confidence stood low, which resulted in a continued slide in the index. The Downturn came on the back of concern over International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s projection of surging government debt coupled with poor data of oil and cement sales for April 2020. Furthermore, despite optimism that the government could move to ease lockdowns further from the coronavirus outbreak, investors' sentiment remained dented. At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded a decrease of 36.47 points, or 0.11 percent, to settle at 33,267.69. Overall, trading volumes fell to 88 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 176 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs3.8 billion. Shares of 330 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 139 stocks closed higher, 166 declined and 25 remained unchanged. Unity Foods was the volume leader with 9.3 million shares, gaining Rs0.40 to close at Rs12.79

JAPAN STOCKS HIGHER AT END OF TRADE; NIKKEI 225 UP 2.56PC

Japan stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Paper and Pulp, Railway and Bus and Real Estate sectors led shares higher. At the close in...