Losses were seen on Monday for oil, telecommunications and banking stocks. US investors did nothing to help the fall as the sentiments of Friday continued. Worries over corporate earnings in the US seemed to blame. By the close of play the FTSE 100 was down over 1.5% and the TechMark was down over 2%.
Tuesday saw the FTSE 100 bounce back by 1% following better news from telecommunications and oil stocks. A tough day for Marconi with losses seen of almost 20% during the day following their corporate earnings news announcement. The technology markets saw early losses but managed to pull back with only a 0.35% loss for the day. Inflation for the month of December was up to 1.9% from 1.8% in December. No shocks there!
The Bank of England's statement helped investors to the conclusion that no interest rate rises were on the agenda.
News from the US on Wednesday depressed the UK equity markets and reinforced the view that there is still some way to go for an economic recovery. The FTSE 100 fell by almost 1% and the TechMark fell over 2.5%.
Thursday morning saw gains on both the FTSE 100 and the TechMARK following positive trading of media, technology and telecommunication stocks. Although some of the gains fell back, both indices closed stronger on the day.
After a day overshadowed by poor corporate earnings news from the US, UK markets fell, leaving the FTSE 100 almost 2% lower for the week and the TechMark 3% lower for the week.