Monday got off to a good start with a boost from positive early US markets. Telecommunication stocks seem to be back in favour after poor trading results last week. By close of play, the FTSE 100 and the FTSE TechMARK were both ahead by just short of 0.5%.
News from the US appeared positive ahead of the Federal Reserve policy meeting on Tuesday. The general feeling was that interest rates would be left alone, rather than being cut further to boost the economy.
Tuesday saw telecommunications stocks out of favour again, leaving the FTSE TechMARK down slightly. Oil and pharmaceuticals were responsible for FTSE 100's slight gains. Investors awaited news from the US and the Federal Reserve in respect of interest rate movements. However, little notice was taken of the UK's inflation figures for February - down to 2.2% from 2.6% in January. This was based on the movement in the Retail Prices Index, excluding mortgages (RPIX).
Wednesday was disappointing for UK markets with both the FTSE 100 and FTSE TechMARK falling into the red by around 1% each. However, a major part was played by stocks in the financial sector going ex-dividend. Markets were also not helped by a fall in US markets after the Federal Reserve changed their stance on interest rates to neutral. This means that their feelings are not to increase rates and not to put them down any lower. This indicates they are ready to move, whichever way the markets go.
Thursday was another day of ending in the red for the FTSE 100 and the FTSE TechMARK, each falling around 0.5%. This time, telecommunication stocks were stronger, with oil and financials weaker. After all of the bad news there was some good economic data in respect of retail sales in the UK. Sales were up by 1.5% in February, as opposed to the expected 0.4%. In addition, sales year on year were up by 5.9%. The retail sector is definitely seeing getting a boost.
Friday was the third day of losses for the FTSE 100 and FTSE TechMARK indices, leaving an overall loss for the week. More bad news from Marconi with share prices diving to 9.55p by close of play. Apparently market conditions had got worse for them and they were again consulting with their bankers for more money.