By: Dr. Mike Campbell

From the perspective of these articles, Friday marked the end of June, the week and the quarter. In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE fell by 0.3%, closing at 5697.7, it lost 2.7% this month and fell by 5.2% over the quarter; the Dax fell by 0.6% to close at 7121.4, it made 0.7% this month, but lost 0.81% over the quarter; the CAC fell by 1% to end the session at 3784.8, it lost 2.7% in June and fell by 6.7% over the quarter.

The Dow ended the week down by 0.58% finishing the trading session at 11934.6, it ended the month 1.8% lower and fell by 3.6% over the quarter. The Nasdaq ended the week up by 1.4% to close at 2652.9, it ended the month lower by 2.9% and fell by 4.9% over the quarter.

The Nikkei strengthened over the course of the week by 3.5% to end the trading session at 9678.7, it ended the month 2% higher, but it lost 0.41% over the quarter.

Currency Markets Review

On the currency markets last week, the Yen had the best of the trading. The Dollar was stronger against Sterling, gaining 1% and closing at 1.6004 to the Pound, over the month, it made 2% and ended the quarter 0.48 stronger. The Greenback also gained against the Euro last week, rising by 0.35% to close at 1.4220, over the month, it gained 1.9% but weakened by 0.56% over the quarter. The Dollar lost ground against the Japanese currency, closing at 80.211 to the Yen, a fall of 0.22% on the week and a drop of 0.58% for the month and 4.3% over the quarter.

The Euro closed down against the Yen ending at 114.06, dipping by 0.57% over the course of the week, it fell by 2.4% in June and by 3.8% over the quarter. The Euro gained ground against Sterling over the course of the week by 0.67%; the close saw one £ buying 1.1254, it made 0.12% over the month and gained 0.79% over the quarter.

Commodities Market Review

On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended sharply lower, closing at $105.12 per barrel (for August delivery); a drop of 7.2% over the course of the week’s trading due to the release of strategic reserves. Over the month, the price sank by 9.3% and weakened by 11.4% over the quarter. The value of gold fell last week, closing at $1514.8 per ounce and representing a loss of 1.5% over last week’s value, it weakened by 1.6% over the month, but the price ended the quarter 6.8% higher.