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Forex Trading Reviews & News 
By: Mike Campbell
Friday was the last trading session in February. All of the major stock markets closed down at the end of last week’s trading session, except for the Nikkei which was flat. In Europe over the course of last week, the FTSE shed 0.1%, closing at 5354.5 but it made 5.8% over the month; the CAC lost almost 1.6% closing at 3708.8, however it rose by 4.1% in February; the Dax fell 2.2%, but still put on 3% over the month; it ended the week at 5598.5.
US markets performed in much the same way as their European counterparts. The Dow ended the week down by 0.7%, finishing the trading session at 10325.4, but gained 3% over the course of the month. The Nasdaq finished the week down by 0.25%, closing at 2238.3 but rose by 4.5% in February.
The Nikkei bucked the trend and made 0.02% last week ending at 10126.3. Over the course of the month, the Nikkei rose by just 0.7%, the weakest performance of all the major markets.
On the currency markets the Dollar had a mixed week. Against the Euro, the US currency fell by 0.4% over the course of the week closing at 1.357 to the Euro, over the course of the month, however, it strengthened by 0.9%. The Greenback was 1.24% stronger against the British Pound closing at 1.5201; it has risen by 3% against Sterling this month. The Dollar weakened to 89.1083 to the Yen, a fall of 3% on the week and a dip of 0.4% over February.
The Euro had a somewhat better week on the foreign exchanges. It strengthened against Sterling by 1.6%. The close saw one £ buying 1.1202€ and the Euro has recovered 2.2% over the course of the month. However, the single European currency fell by a further 2.6% against the Yen last week closing at 120.92 and ending the month weaker by 1.6%
On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude oil fell back a little, closing at $77.6 per barrel (for April delivery); a retreat of 0.8% over the course of the week’s trading, but it ended the month 11.5% costlier. The value of gold also slipped back closing at 1105 $ per ounce, representing a depreciation of 0.6% for the week, but it made a gain of 4.8% during the month.
