Weekly Market Summary

by Raymond Chatlani

On Monday, Asian markets edged higher although the worsening situation in Libya stirred renewed concern about disruptions to oil production. European and US stockmarkets rose after oil prices stabilized and corporations announced another round of deals.

On Tuesday, Asian stocks rose, tracking U.S. shares which gained on optimistic remarks from influential investor Warren Buffett, while Chinese manufacturing growth slowed to a six-month low. Slowing economic growth in China is considered good for cooling inflation. European stockmarkets rose as manufacturing growth accelerated in the Eurozone to the fastest pace in more than ten years but fell into negative territory in the afternoon on Middle East tensions. US markets fell on fears of a prolonged civil war in Libya and as gold and oil both appreciated.

On Wednesday, Asian stockmarkets fell as oil prices rose above $116 a barrel on fears that anti-government protests in the Middle East could spread as tensions grow in Libya. European shares fell on mounting worries political unrest in the Middle East could result in persistently high energy prices and derail economic recovery. US markets rose as the private sector added 217,000 jobs in February beating analyst's expectations who had expected a rise of 175,000 jobs only.

On Thursday, Asian stock markets rose on upbeat US economic news and bargain hunting, but optimism was tempered by turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, which kept oil around two-year highs. European markets rebounded on US data and a fall in the price of oil. US shares rocketed as unemployment benefits requests fell to a 3 year low.

On Friday, Asian shares surged, helped by retreating oil prices and a firmer Wall Street close while the euro perked up after the central bank signalled a rate rise as early as next month. European and US stockmarkets fell as worries about another jump in oil prices overshadowed a solid report on the U.S. job market. The Labor Department reported that employers added 192,000 jobs in February, in the range of what economists expected.

The good news last week was that the US unemployment rate dipped to 8.9 percent from 9 percent the previous month. The rate has dropped for three months in a row and is now at its lowest level since April 2009. Over the past few months, economic data has shown that the US is coming out of recession and this should continue to drive stockmarkets higher. Also, taking into consideration the civil war in Libya and the escalating price of oil, emerging markets have been quite resilient and have not fallen a lot.

On the other hand, the civil war in Libya and fears that tensions will spread throughout the rest of the Middle East could derail this recovery, especially if the price of crude oil reaches unsustainable heights. As a rresult, this morning US Crude Oil rose above $106 to the highest in 30 months as escalating violence in Libya renewed concern that supply disruptions may spread through the Middle East. As a consequence, Gold hit $1,438 an ounce and silver hit a new 31 year high of $36.40 an ounce.