Indices: last week proved to be the most interesting one since the start of the year. The combined effect of unconvincing data from China, fears of slowing down and halting the Fed’s QE, and concerns over emerging markets caused the charts to go red. The worst performance of the US indices this year led to a 3.40% loss for the Dow to 15,883 points, while the S&P500 and the Nasdaq100 declined by 2.60% and 1.33%, respectively.
European markets did not remain indifferent to the alarming news and their charts also turned red. Germany’s DAX30 fell by 3.84%, slipping to 9,341 points; Spain’s IBEX wiped a staggering 5.89% off its value, while France’s CAC40 was down by 4.16%. Italy’s S&P/MIB erased 2.91% while the UK’s FTSE100 dropped by just above 3% to close at 6,612 on Friday.
The red wave extended to Asia as well, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunging by 4.93%.
Forex
The Forex market also got its share of excitement: The most popular currency pair, EUR/USD, rose by 150 pips, closing at 1.3675. The GBP/USD also increased in value, adding 90 pips and closing at 1.6498. On the other hand, the USD/JPY experienced quite a plunge, going down by more than 200 pips, while the AUD/USD weekly fall was a bit limited to 78 pips.
Commodities
There were mixed chart movements of precious metals during the past week. Gold rose for another consecutive week, adding 1.13% to its value to close at $1.268 per troy ounce. Silver, on the other hand, was on the opposite side as it lost ground and fell by 1.84% to close at $19.90. Meanwhile, March delivery for US Oil climbed by 3%, ending the period at $96.87 per barrel.
What to expect this week?
The new week is expected to be as interesting as the last one. Tuesday’s highlights will include Preliminary Release of the UK’s GDP for Q4 (YoY and QoQ), US Durable Goods Orders, as well as the US Consumer Confidence for January, and Australia’s Westpac Leading Index on economic activity. Wednesday will be focused on Germany’s Gfk Consumer Confidence Survey for February, the Fed’s meeting and Interest Rate decision. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will also release its Interest Rate decision along with country’s Building Permits for December. Thursday will be booming with events led by Germany’s unemployment data and Consumer Price Index for January, the UK’s Consumer Credit and Mortgage Approvals, both for December, the Eurozone Industrial Confidence and Economic Sentiment Indicator, both for January, the Preliminary Release of US GDP for Q4 (YoY and QoQ) along with the country’s Initial Jobless Claims and Preliminary Release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures Prices for Q4, New Zealand’s Trade Balance and Japan’s National Consumer Price Index for December. Friday will mark the start of the Chinese New Year celebrations while the economic calendar will see the release of the UK’s Gfk Consumer Confidence for January, Germany’s Retail Sales for December, and the Preliminary Release of the Eurozone Consumer Price Index for January.
In the coming days we will also see the financial results by giants like Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB), Visa (V), Ford Motor (F), Amazon (AMZN), and Yahoo (YHOO).
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