US stock indices close mostly higher compared to the previous week

European shares were bearish during previous trading week

European shares prolonged looses during the whole week, despite overall good set of economic data. The Euro zone's factory PMI hit 51.6 points over the third month this year, showing better than expected 51.4, and after February's 51.2. Moreover, German activity in the manufacturing sector kept a steady pace of growth in March, as Markit reported 50.7 points, following 50.5 before.

The Stoxx 600 Index was 2.25% down on week to finish Friday’s trading session at 356.66 points. Only two out of the 19 sub-indices on the gauge posted gains, while banking and energy shares were the last week’s worst performers. Among individual movers, National Bank of Greece, appeared to be the previous week’s best performing unit, as its stock price rose 0.254 euros on Monday. Furthermore, Thyssenkrupp AG, a German diversified industrial group followed with the second biggest weekly surge, since company is holding talks on combining their continental European steel operations. Company's stocks advanced 11.23% to trade at 19.16 euros. On the downside, Banco Popolare SC went down 13% on week losing 5.765 euros on Friday, adding to the decline in banking group.

The DAX Index finished the week at 9,838 on Friday, 1.55% lower, while the British FTSE 100 plummeted nearly 0.62% to end at 6,146.05 points.

 

US stock indices close mostly higher compared to the previous week

Last week stock market in the United States expanded notably, mostly due to the major economic data releases as well as Janet Yellen statement. Fears of a near-term rate hike from the US Federal Reserve eased this week after dovish comments from Chair Janet Yellen. Moreover, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers' index rebounded strongly in March, rising to 51.8 from 49.5 in February. The new orders index surged to 58.3 from the February reading of 51.5, a hopeful sign for future production. The manufacturing sector expanded in March for the first time in six months.

The main S&P 500 stock gauge, posted strongest gains of 1.75% to close at 2,072.78 points on Friday of the previous week. The majority of all sectors that comprise the benchmark added in value, except energy companies, which lost 0.93% during the period. Technology and consumer staples, in turn, advanced 3.01% and 2.19%, respectively. Among the best-performing companies, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, an American global cruise company, soared 9.9% to trade at $81.88 per share on Friday. On the other hand, Tesoro Corp, an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products, dropped 10.3% to $82.95.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 1.4% to 17,792.75 points along with the high-tech index NASDAQ which advanced 3.1% to close at the 4,914.54 mark.

 

Japanese shares closed purely red

Japanese equities declined sharply on Friday amid a broader Asia sell off, with a strengthening of the yen pushing equities deep into the red. Concerning, industrial production fell 6.2% in February, the sharpest decline since the March 2011 earthquake. The decline suggests that gross domestic product may decline in Japan for the first quarter, which would make two consecutive quarters of declining GDP.

The Nikkei 225 Index, decreased 5.66% over the week ending April 1 at 16,164.16 points. The Topix Index, in turn, one of two main stock indicators for the country, lost 5.8% last week to 1,301.40 level.

Among individual movers, Noritsu Koki Co Ltd, the company is selling, distributing and repairing photo-processing machine, skyrocketed 37.34% to trade at 640 yen. Another gainer, JP-Holdings Inc, the company is mainly engaged in the child-raising support business, went up 17.7% to 399 yen.On the downside, Takata Corp, an automotive parts company, was the top loser last week, as its stock price dipped 18.4% to 412 yen.

 

Asia Pacific Shares managed to advance

Asian stock markets finished the week on a positive note, being positively affected by a solid lead from US markets, as well as strong economic data. Both the "official" Chinese government PMI and the Caixin manufacturing index, which focuses on smaller and medium-sized companies rose, in March. The official PMI rose to 50.2, meaning the manufacturing sector expanded in March. The Caixin PMI rose to 49.7, its first monthly increase in a year. The improvement in the indices eased concerns over the health of the Chinese economy.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index decreased 3.2% on week to finish at 4,999.40 points. Five versus five of industry sectors in the gauge inched higher, with the telecommunications stocks jumping as much as 2.09% on week, while health care followed with 1.13% gain. In the meantime, energy and financials stocks were sold off last week amid concerns the shares were overvalued. The Senex Energy Ltd., an Australian oil and gas exploration and production company, was the last week’s best performing blue chip company with a 13% gain trading at $0.295, lifting one of the weakest performing energy sector. Another company, Australia's largest vertically integrated nut and health food company - Select Harvests Ltd, in turn, plunged 15.9% to $4.00.

The Hang Seng weakened 0.9% on week to end at 20,498.92 points while NZX 50 Index finished last week at 6,708.02 points.

 

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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