European stocks advanced compared to previous week's looses

Stock indices in Europe closed highly elevated on Wednesday as a strong rally for major oil companies pushed the whole equity market higher. Meanwhile, third quarter GDP in the UK and France came in below expectations but had only a minor impact on roaring bulls. The French economy expanded 0.3% in the third quarter, after no growth in the June quarter, while a rise of 1.1% was recorded when measured on a yearly basis, the fresh report revealed. In the UK, the economy grew 0.4% in the third quarter, a slowdown from the 0.7% expansion booked previously. On a yearly basis, GDP expanded 2.1% after a 2.4% rise before. The major Eurostoxx 600 Index of the region advanced 3.3% during the working week to close at 366.28 points on Friday’s evening. Almost all the sectors included in the gauge rose, while gains were led by basic materials and automobiles & parts, which advanced 9.4% and 7.3%, respectively. As for the biggest movers, the energy sector and resources companies moved steeply higher, boosted by oil's stabilization in the green zone. However, the trading volume is now likely to be weaker, as many investors are off for the Christmas holidays. The majority of markets will be closed on Thursday, while all markets will be shut on Friday.

Among other market indicators, German DAX gained 4.6% to 10,743.50 points, while British FTSE 100 rose 3.04% to close at the 6,254.64 mark on Friday of the last week.


US stock market remained broadly unchanged last week

Stock market in the world’s largest economy continued to gain value last week, amid a full set of macro updates including durable goods orders and new home sales in November. Shortly before the opening bell, durable goods orders showed no improvement over the month in November, but the fresh figure still came out better than the 0.6% drop expected by analysts, after the 2.9% rise posted for October. Personal income was seen growing 0.2% in November, while the report on personal spendingwas released earlier than scheduled, showing a rise of 0.3%, meeting estimates.

Nevertheless, the main S&P 500 benchmark lost 1.1% to close at 0.8 points at the end of the trading week on Thursday, despite the fact that all industries rose in value. Utilities and Telecommunications advanced the most by 4.6% and 3.3%, respectively. Concerning major market movers, the energy companies soared significantly, boosted by oil's stabilization. Southwestern Energy Co., an oil and natural gas company based in Houston, Texas climbed 30.2% to $6.7, while Consol Energy Inc., country’s the leading diversified energy producer in the Appalachian Basin, followed with a surge of 25.3% to $8.6. On the other hand, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., a chain of restaurants , dropped 10.7% to $495.10, after an E coli outbreak that sickened more than 50 people. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average went down 1.3% to close at 17,552.17 points. The high-tech index NASDAQ, in turn, lost only 0.5% to close at the 5,048.49 mark.


Asian shares advanced after previous week’s decline

Asian stocks traded broadly higher due to relatively strong US market and ahead of the Christmas cheer before the holiday period.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index advanced 2.09% to 22,138.13 points not long after the opening bell on Thursday. Almost all the industries managed to increase in their weekly value. Energy and basic materials sectors climbed 9.09% and 8.1%, accordingly.

Oil and gas stocks were broadly in the green, with Beach Energy Ltd., an oil and gas exploration and production company soared almost 22% to trade at $0.53. Drillsearch Energy Ltd., an Australia-based oil and gas explorer and producer focused on the Cooper-Eromanga Basin, advanced 221.5% to be the second major market mover during the period and trade at $0.65 per share on Friday. Aurizon Holdings Ltd., Australia's largest rail freight operator, in turn posted a decrease of 14.4% to $4.20, as deteriorating iron ore and coal prices are having an adverse impact on trading conditions and the near-term outlook for the business.

In addition to all mentioned, the most important S&P/ASX200 Index advanced 3.6% to 5,207.60 points last week, while NZX 50 Index went up 1.2% to 6,225.53 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

This overview can be used only for informational purposes. Dukascopy SA is not responsible for any losses arising from any investment based on any recommendation, forecast or other information herein contained.

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