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March 31, 2006
by Elaine Frei
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.9 percent this week to 1,370.43. However, it added 2.6 percent during the month and gained 8 percent during the first quarter of 2006. The week’s losses were put to profit-taking amid worries about rising interest rates in both the eurozone and the United States.
Among gainers on the week were the oil sector. ...
by Elaine Frei
The London equities markets fell victim to profit-taking on Friday, with the FTSE 100 dropping 0.8 percent to 5,964.6 and the FTSE 250 losing 0.1 percent to 9,850.3. Despite the losses, both indices were up in the first quarter of the year, with the FTSE 100 gaining 6.2 percent, while the FTSE 250 was up a full 12 percent over the ...
by Elaine Frei
Early afternoon on Friday saw the New York equities markets mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite up a bit but the S&P 500 had dropped slightly. The Dow was up 0.1 percent to 11,157.58 and the Nasdaq had added 0.2 percent to 2,344.59. The S&P was down 0.1 percent to 1,299.38. These results ...
by Elaine Frei
Commodities prices were up this week, with sugar and some metals hitting all-time highs and oil up 3 percent despite a small decline on Friday. The record gains were explained by predictions that global economic growth will be above expectations again this year, so that demand for raw materials will go up. The forecasts, said some analysts, ...
by Elaine Frei
The euro gained strength over the week as what little new data there was seemed to be euro-positive. The European Commission’s economic sentiment reading was at a five-year peak in March. The Ifo German business sentiment survey was at a 15-year high. Money supply growth was at 8 percent for the year to February. Inflation in the eurozone ...
March 30, 2006
by Elaine Frei
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by Elaine Frei
In London on Thursday, the FTSE 100 again rose above the 6,000 level to close at 6,015.2, a gain of 0.9 percent that allowed the index to finish recouping the 100 points it lost earlier in the week. The FTSE 250 was also up on the day, gaining 0.4 percent to 9,855.1. Trading volume was at 3.2 ...
by Elaine Frei
In Tokyo on Thursday, the Nikkei closed above the 17,000 level for the first time in over five years, ending the session up 0.6 percent to 17,045.34. The Topix index was up as well, by 0.9 percent to 1,726.68. Banking and export companies accounted for most of the upward movement.
Real estate saw gains on the day, with the sector as ...
by Elaine Frei
The euro was stronger on Thursday, while the US dollar weakened in relation to several currencies. Analysts could not agree on reasons why the dollar had declined, especially with the Gross Domestic Product deflator, which the US Federal Reserve looks to as its favorite way to measure inflation, newly revised up for the fourth quarter. Many suspected that ...
by Elaine Frei
Precious metals reached highs on Thursday, with gold and silver hitting long-time records and platinum finding a record high $1,090 per troy ounce.
Gold traded at $586.40 per troy ounce during the day, a $13 gain over Wednesday’s late quotes and its highest price since the beginning of 1981 before dropping slightly in later trade. The price of gold ...
March 29, 2006
by Elaine Frei
The London equities markets were up on Wednesday after losses over the two previous trading sessions. The FTSE 100 added 0.5 percent to 5,959.2, earning back nearly a fourth of the ground it had lost on Monday and Tuesday. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was up by 0.1 percent to 9,820.8. 3.3 billion shares were traded on the day.
Supermarket operator J ...
by Elaine Frei
Equity markets in Tokyo were up on Wednesday as the yen weakened but confidence in Japan’s economic recovery strengthened. The Nikkei 225 closed out the day up by 1.5 percent to 16,938.41, its highest ending level in five years, while the Topix index added 1.1 percent to end the session at 1,711.54.
The real estate sector was up again, with ...
by Elaine Frei
New information released on Wednesday by the US Energy Information Administration showed that crude oil inventories in the United States were up more than had been expected in the week ending March 24, while gasoline inventories were down much more than had been forecast. The news meant mixed prices in crude oil and higher prices for gasoline futures.
Crude oil ...
by Elaine Frei
In the UK on Wednesday, sterling was weaker after the release of several bits of news that did not support the currency. One of the worst bits of news was the fact that the current account deficit for the last quarter of last year was revised upward to £10.96 billion, which amounts to 3.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. ...
by Elaine Frei
Yields on government bonds rose Wednesday after Tuesday’s interest rate hike in the US and on fears that the European Central Bank might soon follow suit after business sentiment in Germany was reported on the rise earlier in the week.
Yields on US Treasury notes were up early and then down later in New York. Two-year bonds hit a five-year high yield ...
March 28, 2006
by Elaine Frei
After gains early in the day, the New York equities markets retreated on Tuesday after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates once again, by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent. The statement that came along with the announcement of the hike, while hinting that the series of rate hikes might come to an end at some point ...
by Elaine Frei
In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.5 percent to 1,364.9 on worries that both US and eurozone interest rates could be going up again soon. The likelihood that eurozone rates could go up again was increased by new data on German business confidence that was up more than had been expected.
The telecommunications sector was instrumental in ...
by Elaine Frei
The London equities markets were down on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 losing 0.6 percent to 5,935.7 and the FTSE 250 down 0.4 percent to 9,816.1 on a volume of 3.8 billion shares traded. The declines did not seem to bother traders very much, however, as they put off much of the losses to simple profit-taking.
In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone ...
by Elaine Frei
Crude oil prices were up on Tuesday on new concerns about supply from Nigerian and Iraq. In Iraq, the oil minister said that exports out of Iraq to Turkey via a northern pipeline will not resume for as much as a year after sabotage attacks on the line. Exports from Iraq were down to around 1.1 million barrels ...
by Elaine Frei
The euro was stronger on Tuesday on new data that tended to reinforce the expectation that eurozone interest rates will be raised again. The probability that the European Central Bank will send rates higher in May has been estimated at anywhere from 50 percent to 90 percent, and some analysts even suspect that a hike might come in April. ...
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The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.9 percent this week to 1,370.43. However, it added 2.6 percent during the month and gained 8 percent during the first quarter of 2006. The week’s losses were put to profit-taking amid worries about rising interest rates in both the eurozone and the United States.
Among gainers on the week were the oil sector. ...
