Japanese stocks closed purely green

European shares posted major gains

European stocks rallied on Friday in vigorous volumes, extending their new-year gains amid expectations of a pick of a rate hike from the US Federal Reserve at either its June or July meeting. Meanwhile, Greece will avoid another debt crisis with upwards of 10 billion euro in financial aid from the Euro zone. The money will be disbursed in time for Greece to make its next round of debt payments, which come due in July. The deal was reached between Euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund.

The Eurostoxx 600 Index was 3.8% up on week to finish at 349.64 points on Friday, posting a first consecutive weekly advance. All of the 19 sub-indices edged higher, with the basic material sector jumping as much as 6.3% for its biggest rally in two years. Among individual stocks, Serco Group Plc, a British outsourcing company, was the last week's best performer with a 18% increase. The company's stocks jumped since profits for 2016 were ahead of current market forecasts. Around Europe, the German DAX Index climbed 4.5% last week, closing at 10,272 on Friday. Elsewhere in the UK, the FTSE 100 Index added 2.19% on the week ending May 27.

 

US stock indices close mostly higher compared to the previous week

The US stocks also posted major gains over the week, closing Friday on a relatively positive note. The US economy grew slightly faster in the first quarter, revised data showed on Friday. Economic output advanced at a still-sluggish 0.8% annual rate, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

All 10 industry groups in the S&P inched higher during the week, while technology group showed the best performance as investors searched for support in safer stocks. Computer Sciences Corp. appeared to be the best performer last week, with its stock price jumping 40%. Company's shares were inspired by news that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. plans to spin off most of its technology services operations and merge with Computer Sciences Corp. The Signet Jewelers Ltd., in turn, lead looses. The world's largest retailer of diamond jewellery dropped 7.11% following the company's first-quarter earnings report. Results were mixed, with the company beating estimates for earnings, but missing estimates for revenue.

During the last week S&P 500 added 2.4% to 2,099.06 points, while high-tech NASDAQ, in turn, advanced 3.5% to 4,933.50 mark.

 

Japanese stocks closed purely green

Japanese shares also showed strong gains last week, with the broader TOPIX Index posting its second consecutive weekly advance. A scheduled further increase in Japan's sales tax may be delayed three years, according to media reports. Given the weak global economic backdrop, many fear an additional tax hike could throw the Japanese economy back into recession.

The TOPIX Index rose as much as 0.84% on week to finish at 1,349.93 points on May 27. At the meantime, 28 out of the 33 sub-industries included in the gauge edged higher last week, with mining shares posting the biggest rally of 6.3%.

Among individual movers Japan Asia Investment Co Ltd., was the last week's market mover, as its stock price surged 41% from 286 yen on January 14 to 406 yen on May 27. The Japan's largest independent venture capital firm was followed by Transaction Co Ltd., a Japanese holding company engaged in the planning, that traded up from 717 yen to 920 throughout the last week. Alongside to that, retail sector showed the weakest performance with a 2.2% weekly rise.

The Nikkei 225 Index finished the week at 16,834.84 points, 1.08% higher on speculation shares were bought to cover the short positions.

 

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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