Weekly Global Market Commentary
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Market Recap - Week Ending 08/27/10 - 08/30/2010
Equity markets continued to stall last week, with most market averages experiencing mild declines, the lone exception being the TSX and FTSE.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 08/20/10 - 08/24/2010
Equity markets continued to be choppy in August, with investors weighing the virtues of strong corporate earnings against relatively weak economic data. Most equity markets fell by 1-2% during the week, with major U.S. and European indices now standing at one-month lows.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 07/23/10 - 07/26/2010
Equity markets continued their winning ways last week, with solid gains across-the-board. Markets in the Far East were particularly strong, with the Shanghai Index climbing by over 6%. The U.S. dollar finished the week up against the yen, flat against the Euro, and down against the Canadian dollar and British pound. Commodity markets had a mixed week, with crude oil closing just shy of $79/barrel and copper rising above $3/lb, while precious metal prices suffered modest declines.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 07/09/10 - 07/12/2010
Stock markets posted their best week in nearly a year, as battered investors regained some confidence heading into what is expected to be a healthy corporate earnings season. On average, international equity markets gained over 5% for the week, although trading volumes were lower than usual.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 07/02/10 - 07/05/2010
The bear market for stocks continued in earnest last week— with across-the-board index declines of 4% or greater. The majority of worldwide equity composites now sit at or near their lows for 2010.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 06/25/10 - 06/28/2010
Fueled by disappointing economic data and continued concerns over the European debt crisis, equity markets had another difficult week—with the majority of international stock indices falling by 3% or more. The exceptions were Chinese and Hong Kong equities, which posted solid gains.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 06/18/10 - 06/22/2010
Following a second week of impressive gains, worldwide equity markets have now staged a solid rebound from the post-correction lows of early June. Virtually every major index saw a 2 to 3% gain last week, with the lone exception of Shanghai, which fell by over 2%.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 06/11/10 - 06/14/2010
Worldwide equity market ended the week on a winning note, with most of the major averages booking their first weekly gains in over a month. The Dow and S&P advanced over 2.5% and European markets showed healthy increases, while changes in the Asian markets were more modest.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 06/04/10 - 06/07/2010
Following a relatively quiet four days, major market averages plunged on Friday, due to a disappointing U.S. jobs report and fears regarding Hungary’s sovereign debt. The Euro continued its freefall, ending the week just below 1.20 versus the U.S. dollar - approximately equal to the level at which it began trading in January, 1999. Most other currencies were flat against the greenback during the week. Treasury yields plunged, as investors piled into bonds.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 05/28/10 - 05/31/2010
The Dow finished its worst May since 1940, with a drop of 7.9%. Other major indices saw similar declines for the month; the S&P500 fell by 8.2%, the FTSE dropped 6.6%, and Shanghai index declined by 9.7% (although international markets have one more day of trading before month-end.)
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Market Recap - Week Ending 05/07/10 - 05/11/2010
Major equity indices ended the week down significantly, following a wild Thursday session that saw the Dow plunge by almost 1,000 points before rebounding two-thirds of the way back. Europe's debt woes were in focus as riots continued in Greece. British elections failed to produce a ruling majority, resulting in a hung Parliament.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 04/30/10 - 05/03/2010
The Dow broke an 8-week winning streak and worldwide equity indices tumbled on Friday, as a wave of bad news roiled the markets. Federal prosecutors alleged that Goldman Sachs committed securities fraud, raising questions about whether other firms might face similar charges. The burgeoning oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has stirred concerns in the influential and deep-pocketed energy sector. The downgrade of Greece’s debt to junk status, as well as cuts in the ratings of both Portugal and Spain’s sovereign debt ratings, has sparked fears that a European debt problem could hurt global economic recovery.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 04/23/10 - 04/26/2010
After a choppy week of trading, North American equity markets rallied late Friday and now sit at new highs for 2010. European markets (ex-UK) finished the week lower, however, on continued worries about Greece’s debt and budgetary problems. Asian markets also finished lower, chiefly due to concerns over future strengthening of the yuan and the effect this would have on the region’s exports.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 04/16/10 - 04/19/2010
Equity markets were having a strong week until Friday’s session, when the unexpected news of a fraud case against Goldman Sachs sent prices falling. Asian markets closed sharply lower on Monday and are set for a difficult opening on Tuesday.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 04/09/10 - 04/12/2010
Equity markets continued their upward trend last week, led by commodity producers and tech companies. Yields on U.S. 10-year Treasuries eased up, falling from 4.0% to 3.9%. Commodity markets had another strong week with crude oil ending the week at $85/barrel and gold trading up to the $1,160/oz level. Currency markets were relatively quiet; of note, the Canadian dollar is now trading on par with its U.S. counterpart.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 04/02/10 - 04/05/2010
Worldwide equity markets traded higher once again last week, with particular strength seen in the Far Eastern markets of China, Hong Kong, and Japan. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have now risen for seven of the past eight weeks, and have been continually setting new, albeit marginal, 18-month highs.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 03/26/10 - 03/30/2010
Equity markets in North America, Europe, and Japan all traded higher last week, with the only noticeable weakness coming in Hong Kong. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have now risen for six of the past seven weeks, and are all touching 18-month highs.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 03/19/10 - 03/22/2010
Most worldwide equity indices (save Toronto and Paris) grinded higher again last week, extending their six-week gains. The inflation (CPI) numbers released by the EU, U.S., and Canada were all pretty much in-line and the Fed decision and statement were as expected. U.S. jobless claims were down a touch, but still quite poor.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 03/12/10 - 03/15/2010
Worldwide equity indices continued their upward trend since mid-February, led by the Nikkei, which gained almost 4% for the week. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 are now at their highest levels in 18 months, and are up 87% and 70%, respectively, since hitting six-year lows on March 9 of last year.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 03/05/10 - 03/08/2010
The US Labor Department said the economy lost 36K jobs last months after shedding a revised 26K positions in December, and the unemployment rate held at 9.7%. Job losses were expected to be larger than reported as the recent snowstorms in the East Coast impacted hiring. The news increased confidence among market participants that labor markets continued to stabilize last month although we have a long way to go before we see some robust hiring activity.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 02/26/10 - 03/01/2010
Emerging market indices posted a strong week, led by the Hang Seng, while North America and Europe were relatively flat. For the month of February, worldwide equity indices were decidedly mixed - with gains in North America, losses in Japan and Europe (ex-UK), and gains in most emerging markets. The U.S. dollar made significant inroads against the Euro and pound sterling during the month.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 02/19/10 - 02/22/2010
North American and European equity indices posted a strong week, with average gains of 3%, while emerging markets remained relatively flat. After a four-week selloff that saw a technical correction in the broad market of roughly 10%, the recent two-week rally has brought the major market indices close to break-even levels for the year.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 02/12/10 - 02/15/2010
Worldwide equity indices staged a mild turnaround last week, following a 4-week selloff. Markets were decidedly lower on Friday, however, on news that China will curb bank lending in order to stay ahead of the inflation curve. The European Union stated its...
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Market Recap - Week Ending 02/05/10 - 02/08/2010
Following a week of strong corporate earnings and a mixed employment report, North American equities staged an impressive rally on Friday, rebounding from a steep early decline. Foreign equity markets, however - particularly those in Europe - continued to sell off, with ongoing worries over deteriorating sovereign debt.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 01/29/10 - 02/01/2010
Chinese bank lending curbs and uncertainties in Europe and Asia – in particular concerns regarding British, Japanese, and Greek sovereign debt – made for a choppy week in equity markets and led to gains across the board for the U.S. dollar, along with a significant decline in commodity prices. Strong earnings reports from the likes of Apple, Intel, and Google, and a better-than-expected U.S. GDP report on Friday did little to avail investor concerns, as equity markets started off strongly, but ended up down for the 7th time out of the past 10 trading sessions.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 11/13/09 - 11/16/2009
Driven primarily by a weakness in the U.S. dollar, equities gained last week with the Dow pulling ahead 2.5%. The dollar fell starting last Monday after a G-20 meeting promised more aid to help the global recovery. This also spurred a rise in commodities, including gold which was up 2.2% for the week and has now risen 52% year-over-year.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 11/6/09 - 11/09/2009
Markets ended the week sharply higher with the Dow and S&P up 3.2% each. Investors reacted favorably to solid results from Cisco, a surge in nonfarm productivity, and M&A activity. In what he called “an all-in wager” on the future of the U.S. economy, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy the railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe in a $44 billion deal. Positive momentum helped investors gloss over worse-than-expected U.S. unemployment of 10.2% on Friday.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 10/16/09 - 10/19/2009
Markets closed higher week-over-week after positive reactions to several earnings beats. JPMorgan, IBM, Google, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup all came in ahead of expectations while Bank of America fell short. In the end, the S&P and Dow closed 1.5% and 1.3% higher, respectively. The dollar did not fare so well, hitting a 52-week low, which in turn let to a surge in commodities. Gold hit an all time (nominal) high while oil hit 2009 highs.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 10/2/09 - 10/05/2009
Markets closed lower for the second straight week after a batch of disappointing economic data. The Dow and S&P 500 were off 1.8% each while the MSCI World fared worse at a 2.4% decline. Employment numbers from last week (ADP Employment change on Wed., Initial Jobless Claims on Thurs., and Nonfarm Payrolls on Fri) were all worse than expected and painted a grim picture of the U.S. economy.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 9/18/09 - 09/21/2009
Markets gained solidly last week across the board. The Dow and S&P 500 rose 2.2% and 2.5%, respectively, while the MSCI World Index finished 1.8% higher week-over-week. Gold was flat on the week, oil gained 4.0%, and natural gas jumped 27.6%. Retail sales, industrial production, and manufacturing numbers came in better than expected and helped feed the bullish markets.
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Market Recap - Week Ending 9/11/09 - 09/14/2009
Equity markets performed well last week with many benchmark indices hitting new highs for 2009. The S&P closed 2.6% higher, European stocks were up over 3% on average, and the MSCI World Index finished 4.1% higher. Economic data was somewhat supportive. In the U.S., jobless claims beat expectations but remained at high levels.
