Week ended 21 March 2009

Posted by admin on 23 March, 2009 under Weekly business news summary | Read the First Comment

This week saw the Asian markets gain the most with the Nikkei gaining 5% over the end of last weeks close. Whereas the UK’s FTSE 100 gained just 2% and the New York Dow Jones 1% – what is positive though is that this is the second week the indexes have gained.

Sterling gained ground this week over the US Dollar by 4%, but this was not due to Sterling strengthening, but more to do with the US Dollar weakening. The US Dollar weakened against the Euro and the Australian Dollar by 5% this week, whereas Sterling lost 2% against the Euro and 1% against the Australian Dollar.

The price of oil jumped this week by a massive 15% ending the week at a recent high of $52.82 per barrel. Also, investors again seek safety in gold with the price per ounce rising by 3% on the week.

End of the week saw:
Stock exchanges:
FTSE 100: 3,843
DOW: 7,278
S&P: 768.54
Nikkei: 7,946

Currencies
UK Sterling £ to US Dollar $ 1.44776
UK Sterling £ to Euro € 1.06158
UK Sterling £ to Japanese Yen 138.620
UK Sterling £ to Aus $ 2.09244
US Dollar $ to Euro € 0.733372
US Dollar $ to Japanese Yen 95.7632
US Dollar $ to Aus $ 1.44600

Commodities
Nymex Crude oil – $52.82
Gold – $954.20