Friday marked the final trading session for April for the purposes of these summaries.
In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE was up by 0.91%, it closed at 6685.7, but ended the month down by 0.15%; the Dax ended at 9401.6, down by 0.09% on last week’s close and fell by 3% over the month; the CAC was up by 0.27% to end the session at 4443.6, but it slipped by 0.9% over the course of April.
The Dow ended the week down by 2.3% to close at 16027, it lost 2.4% of its value in April. The Nasdaq composite index ended down by 0.49% over the course of the week at 4075.6, it lost 1.3% over the month.
The Nikkei 225 ended the week’s trading down by 0.6% to end the session at 14429, it lost 4.2% during April.
Currency Markets Review
On the currency markets last week, the Yen saw the best of the trading. The Dollar was weaker against Sterling last week, closing at $1.6807 to the Pound; a loss of 0.12% over the week and 1.3% over the month. The Greenback weakened against the Euro last week by 0.17% to close at $1.3836 to the € and 1% over the course of April. The Dollar was weaker against the Japanese currency, closing at 102.1 Yen to the Dollar, making a loss of 0.29% during the week and slipping by 1.2% on the month.
The Euro weakened against the Yen ending at 141.3, a loss of 0.12% over the course of the week and slipping by 0.25% during April. It made ground marginally against Sterling last week rising by 0.07%; the close saw one £ buying €1.2147, but it ended the month worth 0.33% less.
Commodities Market Review
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended higher at $109.6 per barrel (for June delivery); a rise of 0.05% over the course of the week’s trading and 2.7% on the month. The value of gold was higher last week, closing at $1301 per ounce, representing a gain of 0.17% over the previous week’s value and 0.3% during April.