A week that showed so much promise ended up being a huge let down. A lot of ink was spent on the take over of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae by the US government, and it allowed equity markets around the world to open the first trading day up 3%. This sadly didn’t last, as traders realized quickly that this take over was akin to putting a band-aid over a third degree burn; it was not a long term...
It was a dire for stock markets, with all major world indices trading well in the red. Thursday saw the bulk of the selling as US markets moved quickly to pre-empt Friday’s poor Non Farm payroll figures. There was also the technical problem of the bulls being unable to push the market higher despite lower oil prices. Initially with commodities getting bludgeoned, global stock markets took the...
It was a good week for European equity markets with the FTSE100 finishing the week at 5636, its highest level for nearly two months. US markets didn’t have such a good time of it, with the Dow Jones and S&P500 finishing largely flat on the week and the Nasdaq closing well down after a sell off on Friday. There was better news for the Greenback though, as the Pound fell to its lowest level...
It was another edgy week for stock markets with both bulls and bears frustrated and unwilling to take on big positions. With the exception of the FTSE, major indices finished down on the week, though a good showing on Friday ensured that equities finished well off their lows. Volume was generally low with summer holidays kicking in on both sides of the Atlantic. However, markets were contained...
The FTSE finished the week down slightly, but the real loser last week was UK PLC. The pound crashed as various factors come to a head. Up until July, the US Dollar was the currency the world loved to hate, last week it was sterling’s turn to be punished. The Bank Of England inflation report was more dovish than expected, opening the doors to possible interest rate cuts before the year is out...
Markets finished last week strongly, with many global indices finally break out the range they had been trading in since July. The Dow Jones Industrial average even managed to register two 300 point rallies in one week. Interest rate announcements dominated the headlines despite there being no surprises with the decisions to leave rates unchanged. The FOMC created the most excitement, when...
Markets endured a volatile week, finishing largely flat despite dramatic 2.5%+ falls on Thursday. In the UK, banking stocks managed to build on the shift in sentiment from last week, but US financials endured further bad news, with Wachovia bank posting a record loss. The beleaguered bank produced an eye watering loss of $8.9 billion for the quarter, slashed its dividend and announced thousands...
Markets endured another volatile week, with US markets had a better time of it than their European counterparts. There were some clear psychological levels in play last week, as markets fell to fresh multi year lows, before recovering in the second half of the week. The Dow hit 11,000 for the first time since July 2006, and the S&P 500 hit 1,200 for the first time since October 2005. The CAC...
It was a sea of red again last week as stock markets across the world finished down heavily on the week. The FTSE 100 finished down 3.26%, the CAC down 4.80% and the DAX down 2.35% on the week. US markets faired slightly better thanks to an attempted rally towards the close on Friday. The S&P 500 closed down 2.14%, the Dow down 1.67% and the Nasdaq 100 down just 1.28% on the week. Irans...
The half year report card for global stock markets was not one to be proud of. The first half of 2008 was the worst first half to a year for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1970, when the index was down 14.60%. The 14.44% decline of 2008 is actually the tenth worse performance since 1900. July hasn’t exactly started off with a bang and US traders may be thankful for the long weekend last...