US stock market again entered negative territory

European shares diminished sharply due to oil weaknesses

The second week of February was fully reversed to the opposite direction, as small gains during the previous week, again were changed by losses, since oil prices continued to fall. The European stock market declined, showing its worst performance since middle of January. Meanwhile, ECB president Mario Draghi resumes to highlight possible monetary easing when the Governing Council meets to set rates in March. Concerning the economic data, unemployment in the Euro zone continued to decline, falling 0.1% , to 10.4% in January.

The Eurostoxx 600 gauge, plunged 4.6% to close at 325.90 points on Friday’s evening. Almost all the industries dropped in range from 4.9% to 7.03%, except basic materials, which rose 5.6%. Speaking about the market movers, Anglo American Plc., one of the world's largest mining companies, advanced 30.9% to 363.35 euros, mainly due to the rise in commodity prices. Antofagasta Plc., a Chile-based copper mining group, followed with a climb of 17.3% to trade at 446.30 pence. Among biggest losers, National Bank of Greece diminished 18.4% to 0.203 euros, while Banca Popolare Emilia Romagna, also, continued its downward trend and dropped 18.04% to 0.6635 euros.

Meanwhile, the German DAX lost 4.83% to 9,266.50 points, while the British FTSE 100 Index went down 3.5% to close at the 5,848.06 mark back on Friday.

US stock market again entered negative territory

American shares plunged significantly, pushing markets down during the previous trading week mainly due to the weak announcements, with the ISM manufacturing index staying at a seven-year low in January. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 151,000 in January, which was a less than expected. Revisions to prior months also subtracted 30,000 jobs from last month's total of 292,000. However, the unemployment rate dipped to 4.9% from 5.0% and average hourly earnings advanced 0.5% in January, up from a flat reading in December.

The main S&P 500 Index dropped 3.06% to 1,880.05 points, while the biggest part of the industries decreased in value during the previous trading week. The loses were led by consumer discretionary and technology, which slowed 5.8% and 5.5%, respectively. On the other hand, basic materials managed to advance by 4.3% last week. Among the best performing companies, Michael Kors Holdings Ltd, an American rapidly growing global luxury lifestyle brand, soared 29.9% to trade at $51.84, after the company reported its sales and profits that easily outperformed Wall Street's expectations. Freeport-McMoRan Inc, producer of gold, silver and copper, added 23.4% to trade at $32.30. Concerning the biggest losers, Marathon Petroleum Corp, an energy company which is based in the US, dropped 22.7% to trade at $32.30.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.48% to 16,204.97 points, while the NASDAQ index followed with a slump 2.3% to reach the 4,363.14 mark.

Japanese equities plunged significantly on strong Yen

Among other financial markets, Japanese shares performed in the less successful way during the last trading week. Sinking oil prices as well as the strengthening yen, which pressured major exporters, pushed Japanese equities down.

The benchmark Topix Index diminished 6.4% to close at 1,368.97 in the end of last week. All the industries included in the gauge declined significantly in five trading days. The worst performance was showed by securities and glass & ceramic products as they lost value in the range from 12% to 13%. Sharp Corp, a Japan-based company which is mainly engaged in the manufacture and sale of electric telecommunication and electronic equipment, surged 26% to 176 yen per share, while Rengo Co Ltd, a comprehensive packaging provider that fulfills all the packaging needs of various industries, followed with an increase of 19% to 613 yen. On the other hand, Tokuyama Corp, a trusted leader in researching and developing dental technologies plunged 39% to 143 yen per share. The company would take a one-time impairment charge of 123.4 billion yen on its two polysilicon plants in Malaysia as ASPs were lower than expected and not in line with previous business guidance. Moreover, company’s market prices dropped below the historical bottom set in December 2012.

Meanwhile, the second-largest stock index of the country, Nikkei 225, also lost as much as 5.8% to 16,819.59 points, while on the basis of last three months the gauge still shows a strong 12% decrease in value.

Asian shares decreased slightly despite mixed economic data

Asian stocks performed in the most successful way among major stock markets during the last trading week. Equities were mostly supported by a sharp rebound in oil futures which helped investors regain confidence. However, the China's official purchasing managers' index fell for a sixth straight month to a three year low., while the January index came in at 49.4, down from 49.7 in December.

The most important S&P/ASX200 Index decreased marginally by 1.3% to 4,976.20 points. The best performing industries included basic materials and utilities, as they rose 5.07% and 1.2%, respectively. Beach Energy Ltd, an Australian oil and gas exploration and production company, went up 18% to be the major market mover during the period and trade at $0.44. The company was followed by South32 Ltd., a resources company, which added 17.4% to trade at 1.145. On the other hand, the Ansell Ltd., a manufacturer of medical gloves and condoms, dropped the most by 24% to $15.04 after the company issued a full-year profit downgrade. The company representatives said that general weakening in the external economic environment as well as currency and economic volatility led to a such profit downgrade.

Meanwhile, stock market in New Zealand slumped 0.34% to 6,153.80 in five trading days. Hang Seng, in turn, lost almost 1.6% to close at 19,288.17 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

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