By: Mike Campbell
January started brightly, but concerns about banking reforms and the Chinese economy overheating have wiped away the gains. In Europe over the course of last week, the FTSE fell by 2.2%, closing at 5188.5 and retreating by 6.3% over the month; the CAC dropped by almost 1.9% closing at 3739.4 a loss of 7.3% for the month; the Dax shed 1.5%, ending the week at 5608.8 bleeding 7.1% of its value in January.
In the USA, the Dow ended the week down 1.0%, finishing the trading session at 10067.3; a loss of 5.2% on the month. The Nasdaq took a harder knock falling by 2.6% % to close at 2147.4 ending the month off by 7.3%.
The Nikkei was no exception to the gloomy trends of the major markets and closed down by 3.7% over the course of the week to ending at 10198.0, representing a loss of 5.6% for the month.
On the currency markets last week, the Dollar strengthened against all its major trading partners. Against the Euro, the US currency strengthened by 1.6% over the course of the week on the back of further Euro weakness, closing at 1.39 having risen by 2.9% over the month. The Greenback was stronger against the British Pound, making 0.6% and closing at 1.602 to the Pound, but it ends the month 0.7% weaker against Sterling. The Dollar closed at 90.7 to the Yen, a gain of 0.7% on the week, but it lost 2.8% over the month
The Euro had another poor week and fell by 0.9% against the Yen closing at 126.15, the loss for the month was 5.6%. It was also weaker against Sterling, falling by 1%. The close saw one £ buying 1.153€. The Euro has lost 3.7% of its value against Sterling since the start of the year.
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude oil was again lower for a third week, closing at $71.46 per barrel (for March delivery); the price of Brent crude dipped by a further 1.9% over the course of the week’s trading. Over the course of the month, oil has weakened by a stunning 12.2%. The value of gold again slipped over the course of the week’s trading, closing at 1087.2 $ per ounce, representing a depreciation of 0.9%. Gold has depreciated by 4% over the course of the month.