Friday marked the final trading session for March for these summaries and it was another mixed affair for the world’s major stock markets.
In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE was up by 0.89%, it closed at 6615.6, but settled back by 1.5% over the month; the Dax ended at 9587.2, up by 2.6% on last week’s close and ending March stronger by 2.5%; the CAC was up by 1.8% to end the session at 4411.3, making 1% over the course of the month.
The Dow ended the week up by 0.12% to close at 16323, but fell by 0.79% in March. The Nasdaq composite index ended down by 2.8% over the course of the week at 4155.8, falling by 4.2% over the month.
The Nikkei 225 ended the week’s trading up by 3.3% to end the session at 14696, but it still declined by 3.8% over the course of March.
Currency Markets Review
On the currency markets last week Sterling saw the best of the trading. The Dollar was weaker against Sterling last week, closing at $1.664 to the Pound; a loss of 0.87% over the week, but a gain of 0.51% over the course of March. The Greenback strengthened against the Euro last week by 0.19% to close at $1.3761 to the € and rose by 0.77% over the month. The Dollar was stronger against the Japanese currency, closing at 102.9 Yen to the Dollar, making a gain of 0.56% during the week, but still slipping by 0.44% over the month.
The Euro was stronger against the Yen ending at 141.6, a gain of 0.37% over the course of the week, but it weakened by 1.2% in March. It lost ground against Sterling last week falling by 1.1%; the close saw one £ buying €1.2090, slipping by 0.25% during March.
Commodities Market Review
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended higher at $108.1 per barrel (for May delivery); a rise of 1.1% over the course of the week’s trading, but it fell by 0.85% in March. The value of gold was lower last week, closing at $1294.8 per ounce, representing a slip of 3.1% over the previous week’s value and 3% over the month.