Last Week In Perspective: all indices losing ground

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 1.84% of its value, closing below the psychologically important 5000 point barrier at 4988.7; the CAC fell by 2.4%, closing at 3649.9; the Dax closed down by 2% at 5467.9.

The Yen enjoyed another good week against the other major currencies, but it seems that the Japanese market is none to keen on the strong Yen. The Nikkei lost 5.2% of its value to close at 9731.9; a decline that was more than double the level seen in any of the other major markets last week.

In the USA, the Dow shed 1.84% of its value, finishing the trading session at 9487.7. The Nasdaq fared slightly worse over the week; closing down by almost 2.05% at 2048.11.

On the currency markets last week, the Dollar had another miserable week, losing ground against all the other major currencies. Against the Euro it continued to weaken, closing lower at 1.4537, a loss of 0.9% over the week.  The Greenback was weaker against the British Pound to the tune of 0.74%, closing at 1.5849, but it saved its worst performance for the Japanese Yen, losing a further 1.09% to close below the 90 Yen mark at 89.3926 to the Dollar.
The Euro dropped against the Yen last week to close at 129.95, shedding almost 2% of its value against the Japanese currency. However, the Euro continued to strengthen against Sterling, appreciating by 0.17%  over the course of the week. The close saw one £ buying 1.0903€.

On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude oil was significantly higher against last week’s mark. Brent crude rose by 2.96% over the course of the week, closing at 68.07$ per barrel (for November delivery). This may reflect declining value of the US dollar being factored into the price. The value of gold continued to appreciate and closed up at 1000 $ per ounce equating to a 0.5% rise over the previous week’s closing price.