The week in the US started and most definitely finished on a high point. The economy grew more than expected in the fourth quarter although the Consumer Confidence Index showed confidence down for the month. Nevertheless, the Dow Jones managed a gain of 4% for the week. The Nasdaq also managed a highly respectable gain for the first time in five weeks. It did not come weakly either a massive 4.5% gain for the week.
The week in the UK started off with gains on Monday, pulled along by the growth spurt in the US markets. Gains followed through for most of the week, leaving the FTSE 100 up by 2.5% and the TechMARK up by 2% for the week. More good news from the manufacturing sector which had risen for the first time in 12 months with increased orders at home and abroad. However, this does pave the way for interest rate rises but we will have to wait and see.
The week in Europe was again positive and even managed to gain when the UK fell on Thursday. Positive economic data from the UK and US was welcomed by investors, in addition to their own good news from the European Central Bank that an economic turnaround would come at the end of the year.
Trading in Far Eastern markets bucked the trend and all but a few indices closed in the red to start the week. This was mainly due to anti-deflation news due from the Japanese government on Wednesday. Wednesday came and went with mixed news from the Bank of Japan and the Government, sending markets mixed messages. By Friday, the Nikkei was at an all time high, helped by news that Japanese unemployment was down and consumer spending was up. Analysts are quite rightly still exceptionally cautious for a reversal of fortune and economy.