US share market rose slightly after Fed's minutes release

European stocks climbed on negations over Greece

The last week of May was strong for European stock market, on hopes that Greece debt negotiations will be resolved in the nearest perspective. After the negotiations of Greek, German and French heads of state which was held on Thursday, a Greek government spokesperson expressed optimism that a cash-for-reforms deal could be reached with creditors within 10 days. However, Eurozone and German data shows loss of economic momentum. The Markit Euro zone PMI slipped from 53.9 to 53.4 points in May, while German composite PMI dropped from 54.1 to 52.8 points.

The benchmark Eurostoxx 600 Index added 2.4% to 232.11 points on Friday, since all sectors posted a confident jump in value. Among leading industries, financials and automobiles & parts industries which rose 3.3% and 3.2%, respectively. DCC Plc, an Irish diversified investments company, increased 18.08% to 72.492 euros. Meanwhile, French telecommunications group, Altice SA, followed the previous week's tendency with a gain of 14.6% to 129.90 euros, since it has agreed to purchase a controlling stake of US cable company Suddenlink Communications. On the other hand, Banca Monte Dei Paschi Siena, lost 13.4% to trade at 9.45 euros per share. Tele2 AB-B SHS, a major European telecommunications operator, decreased around 13.15% to 10.368 euros.

Among other major indexes, German DAX expanded as much as 1.9% to close at 11,826.50 points on Friday, while an increase of British FTSE 100 Index was less significant, as it added 0.9% to 7,031.72 points over five trading days of the last week.

US share market rose slightly after Fed’s minutes release

The largest capital market in the world showed a slow growth dynamics, as investors reacted favorably to the US Federal Reserve’s release of its April policy meeting minutes, which indicated a reluctance to raise interest rates until the US economy strengthens further. Concerning the economic data, US consumer prices rose 0.1% in April but fell 0.2% for the 12 months through April. Core prices, excluding food and energy, climbed 0.3% for the month and 1.8% for the year.

However, the main S&P 500 gauge decreased slightly 0.15% to 2,126.06 points over five trading days of the previous week. Among the best-performing sectors, health care and utilities increased 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively. On the other hand, consumer staples dropped around 0.88%. Cablevision Systems-NY GRP-A, an American cable television company, the leader of May 18-22 week, continued with a positive trend, as it soared 22.2% to trade at $24.98. Meanwhile, Quest Diagnotics Inc, added 11.1% to $128.06, on the rumors that the company, which provides clinical laboratory services engaged the services of Goldman Sachs Group Inc to explore sales. Nevertheless, Southwest Airlines corporation, went down 12.01% to trade at $33.94. Urban Outfitters, an American multinational clothing corporation, also plunged 12% to $34.84, after the company reported lower-than-expected profit and sales for the first quarter.

Dow Jones Industrial Average, in turn, trade down 0.3% to 18,232.02 points last week, while Nasdaq posted a positive movement, which amounted to 0.2% from Monday to Friday, as it reached the 5,089.36 mark.

Japanese equities were calm during the last week of May

Japan-based companies advanced in their total value during the trading week, which ended on May 22, as country’s stock market managed to fix their gains occurred during the previous week of May. It mainly followed the trend of other equity marketplaces. At the same time, among few important events, Japan’s real gross domestic product grew at an annualized 2.4% pace in the first quarter, up from the 1.1% pace in the previous quarter. Nevertheless, corporate capital spending rose 0.4%, indicating the first increase in a year.

The benchmark Topix Index advanced 1.3% to 1,647.85 points in course of five trading days. Among the leading industries, only real estate and energy industries gained 4.5% and 3.3%, accordingly. Voltage Inc, led the increase, surging by 39.5% to 1,550 yen in just five days. Y A C Co Ltd, a Japanese company which is primarily engaged in the development, design, manufacturing and sale of industrial electronics and cleaning-related products, followed with an increase of 23.1% to 1,064 yen. On the contrary, maritime transport and miscellaneous sectors dropped 1% and 0.7%; however, the losses were led by Emori Group Holdings, a Japan-based company which is engaged in chemical and machinery facility businesses, as it plunged 16.6% to 25 yen. Sankyo Tateyama Inc, one of Japan's largest manufacturing companies in the field of aluminum products, lost 13.1% to 2,059 yen.

The second-largest Japanese equity index, the Nikkei 225, registered a 1.8% increase in value during the previous trading week, as it closed at 20,264.41 points on Friday.

EXPLANATIONS

Indexes

• Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500) or (SPX) - U.S. stock market index consisting of the 500 large-cap shares widely traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (INDU) - U.S. stock market index consisting of the 30 large publicly owned U.S. companies , primarily industrials

• NASDAQ Composite Index - U.S. stock market index representing all the stocks that are traded on the Nasdaq stock market, mostly technology and Internet-related

• New Zealand Exchange 50 Gross Index (NZX 50) - stock market index consisting of the top 50 companies listed on the New Zealand Stock exchange

• S&P/ASX 200-a market - capitalization weighted stock market index of stocks listed on the Australian Securities Exchange from Standard and Poor’s

• Hang Seng Index (HI) - Hong Kong’s stock market index consisting of 48 largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Exchange

• Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average (Nikkei 225 Index) or (NKY) - Japanese stock market index consisting of the 225 largest companies listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange

• FTSE 100 Index (UKX) - U.K. stock market index consisting of the 100 most capitalized U.K. companies trading on the London Stock Exchange

• DAX Index (DAX) - German stock market index consisting of the 30 largest and most liquid German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

• Eurostoxx 600 - stock market index, derived from the Stoxx Europe Total Market Index, consisting of 600 large, mid – and small-sized companies from 18 European countries

Chart

• Correlation - statistical measure of the linear relationship between two random variables. It is defined as the covariance divided by the standard deviation of two variables.

• Historical price changes - chart reflecting the historical price changes of particular region’s stock indices

Indicators

• Industry performance - weekly performance of industries within the particular stock market index

• Top performers - companies within a particular stock market index showing the best or worst weekly performance

• Performance - relative historical change of stock market index value