Indices
Last week saw a real frenzy on the stock markets caused by social network Twitter (TWTR), which had priced its IPO at $26 per share. On Thursday, the shares made their debut on the NYSE and within a few minutes after trading had started, the price rose by over 70%, briefly crossing the $50 level.
On Friday, however, Twitter shares fell by 7.35% to close the week at $41.64. Most analysts define the Twitter IPO as more than successful, especially compared with that of rival Facebook (FB), whose shares traded below the subscription price for almost one year. Meanwhile, last week was not successful for Facebook, as its share price fell by 4.44% closing at $47.52 on Friday.
Leading US and European indices traded in a narrow range over the past five days. In the US, the S&P500 and the Dow ended the week with slight increases while the Nasdaq100 lost a modest amount of its value. In Europe, the DAX30 was the only benchmark to close on green territory while the other continental indices registered declines for the week. The Nikkei225 also reported a slight drop, losing 0.34% of its value.
Forex
Following the decision of the European Central Bank to lower its interest rate by 0.25 points, the euro quickly lost ground, causing the EUR/USD to fall by 128 pips and close at 1.3358 on Friday. The EUR/JPY experienced smaller losses, being down by 64 pips and closing at 132.44, while the EUR/GBP plummeted by 126 pips.
In fact, the sterling’s strength came after the Bank of England announced that the interest rate will remain the same for now. The GBP/USD ”benefited” by the decision and the pair rose during the week to close at 1.6012, or an increase of 87 pips.
Commodities
On the commodities market, gold and silver lost 2.14% and 1.84%, respectively, on a weekly basis, with the last quotes of being $1,288 per troy ounce of XAUUSD and $21.46 per troy ounce of XAGUSD.
What to expect this week?
Perhaps the most interesting event this week will take place on Thursday, when nominee for a new Fed Chairman Jane Yellen is to testify before the US Senate, with investors also anticipating new signals regarding the future of the QE. In-between events include: Australia’s Westpac Consumer Confidence Index for November, due on Monday, while Tuesday is shaping up as a very busy day, starting with the UK’s Housing Price Balance for October, China’s New Loans, and Japan’s Consumer Confidence Index for October.
Tuesday will also see Germany’s and the UK’s Consumer Price Indexes for October (YoY and MoM) and the UK Retail Price Index, also for October (YoY and MoM). Wednesday’s highlights will be the UK’s Claimant Count Change for September, the Eurozone Industrial Production (YoY and MoM), the Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report followed by Governor Carney’s speech, and Japan’s GDP on annual and quarterly bases.
Thursday’s main entries consist of a two-day Eurogroup meeting, the Fed’s Ben Bernanke speech, the Preliminary GDP of both Germany and France (annualised and QoQ), the UK Retail Sales (MoM and YoY), the Eurozone GDP (YoY and QoQ). Friday will close the week with the Eurozone Consumer Price Index (YoY and MoM), the US Export and Import Price Indexes, as well as the country’s Industrial Production for October.
Source: dfmarkets.co.uk
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