STOCK EXCHANGES AROUND THE WORLD.

Byline: S.KAMAL HAYDER KAZMI

MARKET WATCH: KSE-100 ADVANCES ON HOPES OF POLICY RATE CUT

Bulls continued to dominate the stock market as the KSE100 index rallied and gained over 200 points on Friday. The bourse managed to cross the 34,000-point mark. The increase was attributed mainly to speculation that the central bank would slash the policy rate in its monetary policy announcement later in the day. Moreover, a surge in global crude oil prices coupled with concern over growing fiscal deficit and negative economic growth dented investors' sentiment. Earlier, trading began on a positive note and a buying spree emerged shortly afterwards due to robust investor sentiment. A few dips were seen, which were corrected immediately.

The uptrend continued till the end of trading with the KSE-100 index finishing the week with handsome gains. At close, the benchmark KSE-100 index recorded an increase of 203.43 points, or 0.60 percent, to settle at 34,008.33. Overall, trading volumes decreased to 213.3 million shares compared with Thursday's tally of 240.2 million. The value of shares traded during the day was Rs 6.2 billion. Shares of 339 companies were traded. At the end of the day, 180 stocks closed higher, 146 declined and 13 remained unchanged. Hascol Petroleum was the volume leader with 14.8 million shares, losing Rs0.25 to close at Rs14.58.

SENSEX CLOSES 886 POINTS LOWER AS FINANCIAL, IT STOCKS DRAG MARKETS

Domestic stock markets slumped more than 2 percent on Thursday, a day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the first installment of measures as part of the government's "Atma Nirbhar Bharat" economic package to help the economy battle the fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the weeks-long lockdown.

The SandP BSE Sensex index plunged as much as 955.96 points to 31,052.65 during the session, whereas the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark fell to as low as 9,119.75, down 263.8 points from the previous close. A selloff in financial and IT stocks dragged the markets. The indices pared some of those losses by the end of the session. The Sensex ended 885.72 points - or 2.77 percent - lower at 31,122.89 and the Nifty settled at 9,150.10, down 233.45 points - or 2.49 percent - compared to its previous close.

JAPAN STOCKS HIGHER AT CLOSE OF TRADE; NIKKEI 225 UP 0.62PC

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...