PAKISTAN - Market factors to watch - May 7

KARACHI, May 7 (Reuters) - Following is a list of events in Pakistan as well as news stories and press reports which may influence financial markets.

(Reuters News welcomes your feedback and for any queries please contact Chris Allbritton in Islamabad editorial on +92-51 281 0017 or via email at chris.allbritton@thomsonreuters.com or on Reuters messaging chris.allbritton.reuters.com@reuters.net) WHAT IS HAPPENING IN PAKISTAN, ALL TIMES LOCAL FOLLOWED BY GMT: (The inclusion of diary items does not necessarily mean that Reuters will cover the event)

* Federal Bureau of Statistic to release monthly consumer price index (CPI) for April on or soon after Monday. Reuters plans to release a poll on the data on Friday.

MARKET SNAPSHOTS

* The rupee PKR= weakened to 84.20/26 to the dollar on Thursday compared with Wednesday's close of 84.17/22 because of increased import payments.

* The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index .KSE fell 0.08 percent, or 8.62 points, to end at 10,553.12 on turnover of 153.59 million shares.

* The net outflow of foreign portfolio investment in the stock market was $3.81 million on Thursday.

[here]

* U.S. stocks plunged 9 percent in the last two hours of trading on Thursday before clawing back some of the losses as a suspected trading glitch and fears of a new credit crunch in Europe threw markets into disarray.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 347.80 points, or 3.20 percent, to 10,520.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX fell 37.75 points, or 3.24 percent, to 1,128.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC lost 82.65 points, or 3.44 percent, to 2,319.64. [.N]

* Oil edged up above $77 a barrel on Friday on the back of a weaker dollar, recovering from a 4 percent slide the previous day, caused by a massive sell-off on Wall Street and fears of a looming new credit crunch in Europe.

U.S. crude for June delivery CLc1 rose 20 cents to $77.31 a barrel by 0308 GMT, largely on the back of the softer dollar and on bargain hunting. The contract has fallen more than 10 percent this week, its worst week since the start of 2009.

London Brent crude LCOc1 gained 35 cents to $80.18 a barrel. [O/R]

* Gold edged down on Friday after rising toward an all-time high the previous day on Europe's escalating debt woes and tumbling U.S. stocks, but strong safe haven demand is likely to help the metal test new highs.

Spot gold XAU= was at $1,199.50 an ounce at 0301 GMT, down $7.75 cents from New York's notional close on Thursday, when it jumped 3 percent to its highest since December 2009 at $1,210.35 an ounce -- marking its biggest one-day gain in more than a year. [GOL/]

* For global market news, click on [MKTS/GLOB]

* To see announcements on Pakistan central bank's regular open market operations, please click on SBPK09.