Last week was a mixed affair for the world’s major stock markets with only the US indices making any real ground. Friday’s session marked the end of January for the purposes of these summaries.
In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE was down on last week’s close by 0.84% at 7665.5, it fell by 0.76% in January; the Dax ended at 13340, 0.7% own on last week’s close, but it made 0.15% over the month; the CAC was up by 0.05% to end the session at 5529.2, making 1.1% in January.
The Dow ended the week up by 2.1% to close at 26617, it made 5.2% in January. The Nasdaq composite index was up by 2.3% over the course of the week at 7505.8, it made 5.2% over the month.
The Nikkei 225 ended the week’s trading down by 0.74% to end the session at 23632, it fell by 0.35% over the month.
Currency markets review
On the currency markets last week, Sterling again enjoyed the best of the trading. The Dollar was weaker against Sterling last week closing at $1.4179 to the Pound, a fall of 2.4% on the week and 4.6% on the month. The Greenback weakened against the Euro last week by 1.6% to close at $1.2427 to the Euro, it fell by 3.2% in January. The Dollar weakened against the Japanese currency closing at 108.4 Yen to the Dollar, making a loss of 2% during the week and weakening by 4.2% over the month.
The Euro was weaker against the Yen ending at 134.7, a loss of 0.44% over the course of the week and 1.1% in January. It lost ground against Sterling last week falling by 0.79%, the close saw one £ buying €1.1411, a slip of 1.3% over the month.
The Euro now buys 1.1606 CHF, a loss of 1.3% on the week and 1.1% in January.
Commodities market review
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended at $70.52 per barrel, a rise of 2.8% over the course of the week’s trading and by 4.3% over January. The value of gold rose last week closing at $1351.6 per ounce, a gain of 1.4% on the week and 2.4% over the course of the month.