FinSec Post

Investment markets and key developments over the past week While US shares were flat, most share markets rose over the last week on generally good economic data, continued solid earnings results and an absence of additional bad news regarding either Ukraine or the Middle East. European shares rose 0.5%, Japanese shares gained 1.6%, Chinese shares rose 3.2% and Australian shares gained 0.9%. In fact Australian shares rose to their highest since June 2008. Bond yields were little changed as was the [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Despite initially falling in response to worries about Ukraine and the Middle East shares actually had a good week helped by favourable US and Chinese economic data, good earnings reports and reduced concerns regarding European banks. US shares gained 0.5%, European shares rose 0.4%, Japanese shares rose 0.3%, Chinese shares gained 0.6% and the Australian share market rose 0.8%. However, the geopolitical tensions saw bonds rally and oil rise. While the euro [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Share markets retreated over the last week on worries that problems at some European banks might spark a return of Europe’s debt crisis and nervousness about a possible correction in the US. US shares fell 0.9%, Eurozone shares fell 3.7%, Japanese shares lost 1.3%, Chinese shares fell 0.5% and Australian shares lost 0.7%. Share market nervousness saw bonds rally, except in peripheral Eurozone countries where Portuguese bank problems weighed. The oil price [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Despite mostly good economic data, global share markets fell over the last week amidst ongoing uncertainty regarding Iraq and Ukraine. US shares fell 0.1%, Eurozone shares declined 2.2% and the Japanese share market fell 1.7%. However, Chinese shares gained 0.5% and Australian shares also gained 0.5% helped by an improvement in the iron ore price. Bond yields fell with investors punting that US rate hikes are still a long way off. While [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Global share markets generally rose over the last week as a dovish US Federal Reserve (Fed) and solid economic data offset continuing uncertainty regarding Iraq and Ukraine. US shares gained 1.4%, European shares gained 0.3%, Japanese shares rose 1.7% and Australian shares rose 0.3%. Chinese shares fell 2.1% though, partly dragged down by worries about new share initial public offerings. Bond yields were flat to down helped by indications that the Fed [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week After four weeks of gains, the past week saw US shares fall 0.7% and European shares down 0.5% as a combination of worries from the World Bank’s global growth downgrades and concern about the impact of the conflict in Iraq triggered a bout of profit-taking. While Chinese shares gained 2% and Japanese shares rose 0.1%, Australian shares fell 1.1% - not helped by retail sector earnings downgrades and the iron ore price [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Global share markets mostly rose over the past week on the back of further monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank (ECB) and solid US employment data. US shares rose +1.3%, European shares gained +1.5% and Japanese shares were up +3%. The ECB’s move also provided a boost to the Australian share market but not enough to fully reverse earlier weakness driven by worries about the fall in the iron ore price [...]