A week of mainly downward closes for the UK and ups and downs for the rest of Europe and the US.
Corporate earnings news was everywhere and a lot from the US was poor, impacting on markets. Industrial production figures were also lower than expected, adding to losses. Inflation in the UK rose in December by 0.1% although the Bank of England did not fuel fears of an interest rate rise.
Technology stocks yet again seemed to be showing their volatile true colours throughout the week. Both Hong Kong and Japanese markets managed to limit losing streaks this week despite Tokyo's Nikkei index losing over 700 points in just 6 days. No shocks, it was again the technology stocks!