By: Dr. Mike Campbell
Last week marked the final trading day for March and the first quarter of 2012. In this piece, we will look back at the markets and currencies and see how they have fared.
In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE fell by 1.5% and closed at 5768.5, it lost 2.4% in March but ended the quarter 2.1% higher; the Dax ended the week at 6946.8 slipping 0.7% over the week, but it gained 0.37% over the month and 14.7% over the quarter; the CAC also fell last week, losing 1.5% to end the session at 3423.8, it lost 2.2% last month but rose by9.1% over Q1.
The Dow ended the week higher to the tune of 1 % at 13212; it gained 1.8% in March and put on 6.9% in Q1. The Nasdaq composite index ended the week at 3091.6, rising 0.77% over the course of the week, making 3.9% on the month and advancing by 15.6% over the quarter.
The Nikkei closed up over the course of the week’s trading, rising 0.72% to end the trading session at 10083.6, the index rose by 3.1% last month, but advanced by a whopping 20.2% over the first three months of the year.
Currency Markets Review
On the currency markets last week, Sterling saw the best of trading. The Dollar was weaker against Sterling, falling 1.2% and closing at 1.60163 to the Pound. Sterling gained 0.9% and 3.6% over the quarter against the Dollar. The Greenback also weakened against the Euro last week, falling 0.86% to close at 1.3356, it shed 1.1% over the month and lost 4.5% of its value against the Euro over the quarter. The Dollar lost some ground against the Japanese currency, closing at 82.0305 to the Yen, a loss of 0.44% on the week, but it strengthened by 0.63% in March and made 6.3% over the quarter.
The Euro strengthened against the Yen ending at 109.56, a gain of 0.42% over the course of the week, it gained 1.7% in March and has recovered 11.2% over Q1. The Euro was weaker against Sterling over the course of the week, falling by 0.29%; the close saw one £ buying 1.19918, but the Euro has risen by 0.14% over the course of the month and by 0.9% over Q1.
Commodities Market Review
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended lower, closing at $122.9 per barrel (for May delivery); a fall of 1.8% over the course of the week’s trading; whilst it slipped by 0.6% over the month, the price of oil ended the quarter up by 9.8%. The value of gold was essentially unaltered last week, closing at $1662 per ounce, representing a fall of 0.1% over last week’s value. Gold depreciated by 2.6% in March but still rose by 2.9% over Q1.