By: Mike Campbell
Despite the fact that the US economy officially came out of recession on Friday, last week was a poor one for the world’s major stock markets with all indices losing ground over the course of the week. In Europe, the FTSE lost 3.8% of its value, closing at 5044.6; the CAC fell by 5.3%, closing at 3607.7; the Dax closed down by 5.7% at 5414.96.
In the USA, the Dow shed 2.6% of its value, finishing the trading session at 9712.7. The Nasdaq fared significantly worse than this, over the week, closing down by 5.1% at 2045.11
The Nikkei lost 2.4% of its value to close at 10034.7.
On the currency markets last week, the Dollar was mixed. Against the Euro it regained a little of the previous losses, closing up at 1.4800, a gain of 1.5% over the week. The Greenback was stronger against the British Pound to the tune of 1.1%, closing at 1.6559. The Dollar lost ground against a rebounding Japanese Yen, losing 0.95% to close at 90.9865 to the Dollar.
The Euro dropped against the Yen last week to close at 134.66, shedding 2.4% of its value against the Japanese currency. The common European currency also weakened against Sterling depreciating by 2.6% over the course of the week. The close saw one £ buying 1.1189€.
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude oil was significantly weaker against last week’s mark. Brent crude fell by 4.7% over the course of the week, closing at 75.2$ per barrel (for December delivery). This may reflect concerns over the strength of the recovery being factored into the price. The value of gold dipped slightly to close at 1045 $ per ounce equating to a 0.85% slide over the previous week’s closing price.
FOREX: Last Week In Perspective - 2 November 2009
DailyForex.com