Indices: All major global indices reported serious losses last week. The uncertain political situation in Ukraine and the unconvincing data on China’s economy tipped the scales in favour of sellers.
US stock indices registered their worst week since January as each fell by more than 2%. The S&P500 lost 2.03% to close at 1,839 points, the Dow dropped by 2.37% to end at 16,059, while the technological Nasdaq100 wiped 2.08% off its value, closing on Friday night at 3,627 points.
European indices had an even rougher week as investors assessed the importance of the conflict in Ukraine. Germany’s DAX30 declined by 3.72%, France’s CAC40 lost 4.06%, Spain’s IBEX ended down 3.69%, while Italy’s S&P/MIB erased 1.57% in the past 5 days. The UK’s FTSE100 closed at 6,523, or a loss of 3.19% on a weekly basis. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei225 ended the week with the biggest decline, plummeting by 6.56%.
Commodities
Amid the uncertain political and economic situation in Ukraine and mixed data coming from the emerging markets, gold scored a really impressive week, with a growth of 3.25%, reaching $1,383 per troy ounce for the first time since September. Silver also showed off some muscle and rose by 2.61% to end the period at $21.42 per troy ounce. US oil futures for April delivery revealed a weaker five days that ended with a decline by 3.41% and closed at $99 per barrel.
Forex
Despite the calm that swept the Forex market last week, we can still highlight the USD/JPY, which lost almost a two-digit figure to close at 101.34.
What to expect this week?
Reactions from Sunday’s referendum in Crimea, whose results showed the willingness of the people in the autonomous area to rejoin Russia, will be closely followed by all market participants in the next few days. Another key event of this week’s economic calendar is the Fed’s meeting on Wednesday, which is expected to reveal whether the gradual reduction of quantitative easing will remain along with the country’s interest rate. Other events include the Reserve Bank of Australia Meeting minutes on Tuesday, with tomorrow also producing the ZEW Survey on the Economic Sentiment for both the Eurozone and Germany, the US Building Permits for February, along with the country’s Consumer Price Index for February (MoM and YoY), the Bank of England Governor Carney speech, Japan’s Merchandise Trade Balance for February.
Wednesday’s highlights feature the Bank of England Minutes and the UK’s Claimant Count Change for January, and the New Zealand Gross Domestic Product for Q4 ( YoY and QoQ). Thursday’s main entries are coming from the Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda speech, the US Initial Jobless Claims and Existing Home Sales for February. Friday’s close of the week will present the UK’s Public Sector Net Borrowing for February and the Preliminary release of the Consumer Confidence for March.
Further reading: Geopolitics gives way to return of risk trade
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