Monday saw UK markets move between positive and negative points throughout the day with no lead from the US, closed for the holidays. Telecommunication stocks were hard hit but the effect was slightly offset by growth in the oil and power sectors. The FTSE 100 lost 0.5% for the day and the TechMARK slightly more.
Yet another downward trend was seen on Tuesday, helped along by fears and market levels in the US. Stocks most hit were technology, banks, telecommunications, oil and pharmaceuticals. The FTSE 100 closed down over 1% with the TechMARK down over 2%.
With the rise in the US on Wednesday you could have expected a mirror from the UK, but surprisingly not. The UK markets had a very bad day, with the FTSE 100 closing at its lowest point since late October early November. Poor earnings news and those accounting practices worries rose again to leave the FTSE 100 down almost 1.5% and the TechMARK down almost 2%.
Thursday saw a reaction to the US markets as positive trading was seen whilst both markets were open. Movers into the black included banks, oil and telecommunication stocks, leaving the FTSE 100 up by 1%. The TechMARK was not so lucky, ending down 0.5% for the day, helped along by a sell off for Energis and no positive outlook for Colt Telecom.
Friday saw another low for UK markets across the board. Neither blue chip stocks nor technology stocks could drag the indices higher and yesterday's losses for Energis and Colt just got worse. The FTSE 100 ended down almost 0.5% for the day but 2.5% lower for the week. The TechMARK closed in a much worse position - over 2% down for the day but almost 7% down on the week.