Last week saw the final trading session for the week, the month and the quarter from the perspective of these summaries. Much of that time has been pre-occupied with the Greek crisis which seems to have come to a head now.
In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE was up by o.64%, it closed at 6753.7, shedding 0.75% in June and 1.2% in Q2; the Dax ended at 11491, up by 4.1% on last week’s close and 2.6% on the month but ending the second quarter down by 4%; the CAC was up by 5.1% to end the session at 5059.2, making 2.8% over the month but slipping by 0.3% over the quarter.
The Dow ended the week down by 0.38% to close at 17947, it rose by 0.5% in June and by 1% over Q2. The Nasdaq composite index ended down by 0.71% over the course of the week at 5080.5, making 0.2% in June and 4% on the quarter.
The Nikkei 225 ended the week’s trading up by 2.6%% to end the session at 20706, rising by 1.2% in June and by 6.5% over Q2.
Currency markets review
On the currency markets last week the Dollar enjoyed the best of the trading. The Dollar was stronger against Sterling last week closing at $1.5748 to the Pound, a rise of 0.82%, but it slipped by 3.2% in June and by 5.6% on the quarter. The Greenback rose against the Euro last week by 1.3% to close at $1.1186 to the €, it lost 0.6% on the month and slipped by 1.8% over Q2. The Dollar was stronger against the Japanese currency, closing at 123.4 Yen to the Dollar, making a gain of 0.54% during the week, it slipped by 1.8% in June but ended Q2 up by 3.7%.
The Euro was weaker against the Yen ending at 138, a loss of 0.78% over the course of the week and 1.2% in June, but it ended the quarter up by 5.6%. It lost ground against Sterling last week, falling by 0.49%; the close saw one £ buying €1.4078, falling 2.8% on the month and by 3.7% in Q2.
The Euro now buys 1.0469 CHF, a gain of 0.29% on the week and 0.24% on the month, strengthening by 0.19% over the quarter and demonstrating that the Swiss central bank has re-established a peg.
Commodities market review
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended at $63.26 per barrel, a gain of 0.38% over the course of the week’s trading and a loss of 0.08% in June, however, the quarter saw the price rise by 15%. The value of gold was lower last week, closing at $1173,5 per ounce, a fall of 2.2% on the week, it made 0.32% in June, but slipped by 2.1% over Q2.