Global Market News Roundup for Friday, 2/15/2013
MANILA – Propelled by a late surge in trading volume on the bourse, the benchmark Philippines Stock Exchange index (PSEi) reached 6,521.64 points. The broader all shares index settled at 4,101.44 points, down by 10.26 points or 0.25 percent. Mining and oil sector firms lost 192.45 points, or 0.87 percent of their value, to finish at 22,041.97 points. In contrast, the property sector experienced a modest rise of 0.65 percent to 2,668.09 points. Overall, the picture was mixed with 90 stocks gaining and 84 stocks falling, with another 39 stocks remaining unchanged.
LONDON – Stocks tumbled for two consecutive days at the London Stock Exchange. Investor sentiments took a blow amidst a generally widespread negative sentiment surrounding the upcoming G20 meeting. On the spotlight at the London Stock Exchange were mining firms like Anglo American that soared 3.3 percent. Anglo American soared on the back of higher dividend announcement, despite its lower profits announcements. Also on the spotlight were miners like Randgold Resources and Fresnillo that plunged on concerns over metal prices. Amidst such negative sentiments, Randgold Resources fell 3 percent and Fresnillo dropped 2.7 percent.
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Negative sentiments also weighed down on the FTSE-250 index which receded 0.2 percent. It is speculated that currency wars are set to dominate the agenda at the upcoming G20 meet as many stagnant economies would like to boost their economies by raising competitiveness. One quick method of attaining that objective is to devalue the national currency.
MUMBAI – At the end of the trading day, the Bombay Stock Exchange stood at 19,431.99 points, lower by 61.97 points from the previous day’s trading. The firms that gained the most included Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd – higher by 6.53 percent – and Manappuram Finance Ltd, which was higher by 5.28 percent compared to the previous day’s trading. MMTC and Suzlon Energy shed more than 5% each, rounding up the top two ‘losers’ list. Similarly, the property sector was down by 1.32 points to 2,036.03 points.
KARACHI – Driven mostly by investor optimism, the oil and gas sector pushed the benchmark KSE-100 index higher by 0.18% to 17,797.22 points. State owned telecommunications firm PTCL’s stocks touched the maximum price possible as no more than 5% daily fluctuation in the price of a share is allowed by the regulatory body. This rally, due to better than expected earnings announcements by PTCL earlier, led PTCL share prices to Rs 21.95, which is higher than the previous day’s price by Rs 0.85. State owned oil and gas major OGDC was a volume leader, along with telecommunications firms Telecard and Wateen Telecom. Both Telecard and Wateen Telecom, however, slipped on Friday’s trading.
