Trading for the week got off to a good start in the UK but seemed all downhill from there, leaving a loss for both the FTSE 100 and FTSE TechMARK. Inflation was down for February and retail sales were up by more than expected. The week was ended with Marconi shares cut by almost 50%. Is it buyout or break up time?
The trading week in Europe was much the same as in the UK. Gains were seen early on in the week, to be followed by a few days of losses and then a gain to close the week. Trading seemed to leave telecommunication stocks again in and out of favour, responsible for gains and losses. News from the US Federal Reserve took its toll but not drastically.
US markets also had a mixed week with nothing really solid to go on. The Philadelphia Federal Index released data much worse than expected, the business index fell to 11.4 in March, from 16 in February. 18 was expected. New orders had also declined. Good news came from the consumer price index which rose in line with expectations. Although weekly unemployment claims were down, the 4 weekly average actually rose. In terms of other economic data, everything seemed the same, as expected, with no gains.
Far Eastern markets were generally mixed throughout the week. Japan had a short week with markets closed on Thursday for a public holiday. News from the US Federal Reserve did not affect investors dramatically. However, news from the Bank of Japan did affect markets. They were reluctant to ease monetary policy further, leading to fears from banks that bad debts would be harder to recover.
On a more positive note, the Bank of Japan said that despite their economy deteriorating, the upturn from the US would promote export and help the economy back to its feet.