By: Dr. Mike Campbell

Last week was saw all of the world’s major markets close lower on continuing jitters about the pace of the global recovery and sovereign debt and the apparent inability of the authorities to act decisively to fix it. In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE fell 5.6% and closed at 5066.8; the Dax shed a further 6.8% to close at 5196.6; the CAC dipped by 7.3% to end the session at 2810.1.

The Dow ended the week below the 11000 points level, down by 6.4% and finishing the trading session at 10771.5. The Nasdaq ended the week lower by 5.3%, to close at 2483.2.

The Nikkei weakened over the course of the week, shedding 3.4% to end the trading session at 8560.3

Currency Markets Review

On the currency markets last week, the Yeb again had the best of the trading. The Dollar was stronger against Sterling, making 2.5% and closing at 1.53952 to the Pound. The Greenback made ground against the Euro last week, climbing 2.4% to close at 1.343. The Dollar lost ground against the Japanese currency, closing at 76.187 to the Yen, a fall of 0.73% on the week.

The Euro closed down against the Yen ending at 102.32, falling 3.1% over the course of the week; its lowest value since May 2001. The Euro also was almost unchanged against Sterling over the course of the week making just 0.07%; the close saw one £ buying 1.14633.

Commodities Market Review

On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended lower, closing at $103.97 per barrel (for November delivery); a fall of 7.4% over the course of the week’s trading. The value of gold dipped last week, closing at $1689 per ounce, representing a fall of 5.9% over last week’s value; this is likely to be profit taking since gold tends to rise in uncertain times and the times are pretty uncertain right now.