Monday saw European markets close down following a weak start to the day on the US markets. Losses made were generally due to banking and oil stocks. With the Pentecostal holiday in much of Europe, trading was light. It was made even lighter when technical problems suspended trading in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels. By close of play in Frankfurt the Xetra DAX was almost 1% lower than the starting level. The news was the same for the CAC 40 in Paris.
Tuesday saw another day for European markets fretting over weak US markets. Despite staying in the black for most of the day due to positive US trading the major indices still fell into the red. The culprits were again the banks and technology stocks. Losses were pared by gains in oil stocks. The good news was that the losses were small and both the Xetra DAX and CAC 40 indices only fell slightly below starting levels.
Wednesday made it a week of losses so far for the rest of Europe. This time it was mainly down to oil stocks but banks and telecommunication stocks contributed. This time the losses were more substantial with the Xetra DAX falling almost 1.5% below starting level. The CAC 40 fared no better, falling by almost 2% for the day. As with the rest of the World, trading was not helped today by a bomb scare on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
Thursday saw at least one European market push against the UK trend for gains today. Despite good news for bank and oil stocks, the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt ended the day in the red by almost 1%. Conversely, the CAC 40 in Paris about turned and managed a gain of around 0.5%. Markets reacted differently to the decent economic news from the UK on the retail sales front - they grew by 1.7% in April and smashed the target of 0.4%. Analysts commented that the increased rise was due to all time low interest rates encouraging consumer spending and borrowing. Good news came in from the US on their durable orders, again seeing better than expected growth.
Friday saw positive trading on the oil and telecommunication stock fronts but losses announced by GlaxoSmithKline ploughed through and reduced the gains. By close of play the Xetra DAX managed a gain of around 0.5%. In a reversal of fortune from yesterday the CAC 40 in Paris closed slightly lower.