By: Dr. Mike Campbell

Friday was the end of the month as far as these summaries are concerned. November has been dominated by political uncertainty and on-going concerns about the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. All of the markets ended the week lower.

In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE fell by 3.7% and closed at 5164.7, falling 6.4% over the month; the Dax ended the week at 5492.9, falling by 5.3%; on the week and 7.5% over the month; the CAC dropped by 4.7% to end the session at 2857.0, shedding 8% over the course of November.

The Dow ended the week down by 4.8% at 11231.8, falling 6.1% over the month. The Nasdaq composite index ended the week at 2441.5, shedding 5.1% over the week and 8.9% during the month.

The Nikkei closed down over the course of the week, losing 2.6% to end the trading session at 8160.0; a loss of 7.15 in November.

Currency Markets Review

On the currency markets last week, the Dollar saw the best of more nervous trading. The Dollar was stronger against Sterling, making 2.3% and closing at 1.54571 to the Pound, making 3.3% over the month. The Greenback strengthened against the Euro last week, making 2.6% to close at 1.3229 and ending the month higher by 3.8%. The Dollar made ground against the Japanese currency closing at 77.5493 to the Yen, a gain of 1.2% on the week, but it still lost 1.2% during November.

The Euro closed down against the Yen ending at 102.59, falling 1.4% over the course of the week and weakening by 4.6% during November. The Euro was also weaker against Sterling over the course of the week by 0.26% and 0.64% over the month; the close saw one £ buying 1.16843.

Commodities Market Review

On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended lower, closing at $106.4 per barrel (for January delivery); a fall of 1.1% over the course of the week’s trading and a fall of 5.1% over the month. The value of gold fell last week, closing at $1688.5 per ounce, representing a loss of 1.8% over last week’s value and a slip of 3.5% over the course of November.