Stocks try to stabilize

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks cut losses Thursday morning, turning mixed, as stocks bounced after touching key levels not seen in nearly six years.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 0.3% over 90 minutes into the session, hampered by a plunge in GM and Citigroup.
The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index lost 1% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 0.4%.
Stocks slumped through the morning after a report showed the highest level of weekly unemployment claims in 16 years, underscoring the depth of the recession.
But the major gauges managed to cut losses and briefly turn higher after the S&P 500 dropped to the lowest level since Oct. 10, 2002. That date is considered important on a technical basis for all three major gauges, as it marked the bottom of the last bear market.
Worries about the fate of the automakers sent stocks plunging Wednesday, with all three major gauges ending at the lowest levels since 2003. Stocks extended the selloff Thursday morning.
Markets worldwide declined. Asian stocks tumbled, with the Japanese Nikkei losing 6.9%. In afternoon trading, London's FTSE 100 was off 4.4% and the German DAX was down 4.4%.

Uganda stock exchange expands

By Will Ross BBC, Kampala
As the bell struck on Thursday morning trading began at the Uganda Securities Exchange - basically a small office in central Kampala.
This time there is an extra company listed - Bank of Baroda Uganda.
It means more work for the half a dozen brokers in their bright red jackets buying and selling shares on behalf of the investors.
When you look at the stock exchanges which have been around for 300 years, this is exactly the way they started Simon Rutega, Ugandan Securities Exchange Trading takes place two mornings a week. And no, this is not the hive of activity you will find in other markets in capital cities around the world.
At the end of 20 minutes of trading, nine deals had been made and over 86,000 shares traded.
And on the first day on the exchange the new Bank of Baroda shares had risen in value by 16%.
Good news for those who had bought shares in the bank.
The Ugandan Stock Exchange in Kampala was set up two years ago and the signing of the Bank of Baroda takes the total number of companies listed to just five, making it one of the smallest in Africa.

Oil price goes below $50 a barrel

Oil prices have fallen below $50 a barrel for the first time since May 2005 amid fears of a recession and expectations that demand will drop.
US light sweet crude fell to $49.75, while London-traded Brent crude fell to to $48.90 a barrel.
The price of oil is around two-thirds cheaper than in July, when it hit a record above $147 a barrel.
Members of oil cartel Opec are to meet on November 29, after opting to cut output by 1.5 million barrels per day.
"The lack of any positive news on the demand front as well as continued global economic turmoil continues to result in a dearth of bullish news," said Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director of Hudson Capital Energy.

Recession fears hit stock markets

World shares have fallen amid concerns that the world economy will enter a protracted downturn.
The US Dow Jones index Industrial Average fell 2.3% in early trade while the wider S&P 500 Index shed 3%.
London's FTSE 100, the Paris-based Cac and Frankfurt's Dax were all down more than 3% in afternoon trade. Earlier, Asian shares had fallen sharply.
Concerns over a sharp slowdown in US factory activity added to worries about the strength of the economy.

No business in KSE initial two hours of trading today

KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) in its initial two hours of trading session witnessed no business on Tuesday, as investors preferred to stay out of the trading arena.KSE income has plunged down to an alarmingly low level, as the volume trading persistently kept plummeting, while on Tuesday in the initial two hours of the trading session, it saw no business activity at all, as the investors preferred waiting on the sidelines. KSE members told that the bourse used to earn a daily income of Rs.7.5 million from the Exchange log, which has dropped down to less than Rs. 40000 per day due to tumbling volume of trade. KSE Managing Director, Adnan Afridi told Geo News that the officers of the Exchange were voluntarily relinquishing their privileges in the wake of the dwindling income.

Ghee mils owners’ profit rises to Rs25 per kg

Updated at: 1810 PST, Tuesday, November 18, 2008 KARACHI: Amid decline in palm oil price in International market, ghee mills owners are earning a profit of Rs25 per kilogramme.Mill owners said on Tuesday that no promise was made to the government regarding the reduction of ghee price in open market and that it cannot reduce prices by force.The government said it would conduct a probe into mill owners’ profiteering.Members of Pakistan Banaspati Manufacturers Association (PBMA) told Geo News that the association promised the government to provide ghee at cheaper rates (Rs 95 per kg) only at Utility Stores.Meanwhile, secretary industries and production, Shahab Khawaja said that the PBMA had pledged to reduce prices of ghee, however, he said the association had sought more time because bookings had been made at previous rates.

Oil falls as economic crisis weighs

Updated at: 0125 PST, Wednesday, November 19, 2008 LONDON: Oil prices fell on Tuesday as part of a wider market downturn due to concerns about global economic weakness.Uncertainty about the fate of talks over aid for General Motors Corp and other U.S. automobile makers fueled worries that helped send U.S. stocks lower. nN18272083U.S. crude traded down 23 cents to $54.72 a barrel by 13:53 p.m. EST (1853 GMT), after dropping as low as $54.13, the lowest level since January 2007.London Brent crude traded down 23 cents at $52.08 a barrel."Crude oil futures moved down with Wall Street. Market fundamentals are very tenuous," said Andy Lebow, broker at MF Global."The oil market is in a major downtrend and moving down with equities confirms there is a lack of confidence in what brought prices up earlier."Oil prices have dropped from record highs above $147 a barrel in July as the mounting economic crisis has clipped fuel demand in big consumer nations such as the United States.The steep drop in prices has prompted some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to call for more production cuts, after the cartel agreed to remove about 2 million barrels per day from world markets since September.Traditional price hawk Iran has sought another 1 million to 1.5 million bpd in cuts and has called for talks with non-OPEC members on supply curbs.