By: Mike Campbell
With concern over the potential overheating of the Chinese economy and Barack Obama’s plans to reform the banking sector, last week saw all of the major stock markets closing lower. In Europe, the FTSE fell by 2.8%, closing at 5303; the CAC dropped by almost 3.4% closing at 3820.8; the Dax shed 3.1%, ending the week at 5695.3.
In the USA, the Dow ended the week down sharply, finishing the trading session at 10173; a loss of 4.1%. The Nasdaq also lost ground falling by 3.6% % to close at 2205.3.
The Nikkei was no exception to the gloomy trends of the major markets and closed down by 3.6% over the course of the week to ending at 1059.6.
On the currency markets last week, the Dollar strengthened against both Sterling and the Euro. It weakened against the Yen by a further 0.88% closing at 90.1 to the Dollar. The markets seem to be ignoring the declaration of the Japanese finance minister that he wanted to see the currency weaken to 95 Yen to the Dollar. Against the Euro, the US currency strengthened by 1.7% over the course of the week on the back of Euro weakness, closing at 1.413. The Greenback was stronger against the British Pound, making 0.8% and closing at 1.612 to the Pound.
The Euro had another poor week and fell by 2.6% against the Yen closing at 127.35. It was also weaker against Sterling, falling by 0.9%. The close saw one £ buying 1.141€.
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude oil was sharply lower for a second week, closing at $72.82 per barrel (for March delivery), the price of Brent crude dipped by a further 5.6% over the course of the week’s trading. Weak demand for oil puts downward pressure on the price – oil is essential to economic growth. This is perhaps further evidence for the fragility of the putative global recovery. The value of gold fell over the course of the week’s trading, closing at 1096.55 $ per ounce, representing a depreciation of 3.2%.