By: Mike Campbell
With the exception of the Nikkei, all of the world’s major stock markets gained ground over the course of last week, continuing the trend of the previous week. In Europe, the FTSE put on a further 3.2% of its value, closing at 5172.9; the CAC gained 2.5%, closing at 3827.8; on the back of the previous week’s strong gains, the Dax still managed to close up by 1.4% at 5703.8.
In the aftermath of the change of government last week, Japan’s Nikkei ended the trading week lower, closing at 10370.5, a drop of 0.7%. In itself, this decline is not that great, but the fact that all the other indices were up is, perhaps, significant.
In the world’s largest economy, the Dow closed higher by 2.2%, finishing the trading session at 9820.2. The Nasdaq also enjoyed a similar appreciation over the week; closing up by almost 2.5% at 2132.86.
On the currency markets last week, the Dollar again gained a little ground against the Yen (91.3, 0.47%). Against the Euro it continued to edge lower, closing at 1.471, -0.76% over the previous week’s rate. The American currency, however, made some ground against the British Pound (1.633, +2.2%) but was again essentially unchanged against and the Chinese currency, at 6.83 Yuan to the Dollar, down fractionally by 0.02% on the previous week’s rate.
The Euro strengthened against the Yen last week to close at 134.17 Yen to 1€ (+1.17%). It also gained significantly against the British Pound last week, one £ buying 1.1107€ (+2.9%).
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude oil was significantly higher against last week’s mark. Brent crude rose by 5.4% over the course of the week, closing at 71.3$ per barrel (for November delivery). This may reflect the prospect of increased demand as the northern hemisphere heads towards winter. The value of gold continued to appreciate and closed up at 1012 $ per ounce equating to a 1.56% rise over the previous week’s closing price.