euro holds its own
02 Jun 2008
Traders now are turning their focus to the announcement of interest rates for the euro zone and Britain next week as well as new signs about the state of global oil supplies and the health of the US economy.
London's FTSE-100 index ended down 0.24 percent at 6053.50 points, while Frankfurt's Dax index rose 0.59 percent to 7096.79 and in Paris the Cac-40 was up 0.77 percent at 5014.28. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Index was up just 0.09 percent at 12 657.05 in midday trading after data showed modest consumer spending and income gains in April and market sentiment got a lift from upbeat company earnings. The tech-dominated Nasdaq index was 0.56 percent higher at 2522.41.
Share prices were supported by falls in the price of oil from a record high of 135 dollars in recent days. But crude rebounded, with Brent North Sea for July delivery gaining 86 cents to 127.75 dollars.
Oil companies suffered from the recent falls.
In London, BP fell 0.73 percent to 608 pence and Shell was down 1.86 percent at 2105 pence. In Paris, Total lost 0.64 percent to 56.09 euros. European bourses had a strong week. Paris gained 1.63 percent and Frankfurt rose 2.2 percent. Attention next week will focus on the European Central Bank's announcement on Thursday of interest rates and forecasts for euro-zone growth and inflation.
Economists expect the European Central Bank to revise upwards its inflation estimate for 2008 and 2009 currently at 2.5 percent and 2.0 percent.
The main interest rate is expected to stay unchanged at 4.0 percent.
In other European markets, the Milan SP/Mib index rose 1.39 percent to 33 225 points on Friday. Amsterdam's AEX index gained 0.35 percent to 485.1. Brussels Bel-20 rose 0.64 percent to 3751.41. Madrid's Ibex-35 was up 0.45 percent at 13 600.9. In Asia on Friday, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei-225 index gained 1.52 percent to end at 14 338.54 points — the best finish since 10 January. Hong Kong's key Hang Seng index closed up 0.61 percent at 24 533.12 points.
The dollar's fortunes has also cast a new shadow over shares. The euro rose to 1.5564 dollars on Friday afternoon, against 1.5503 late on Thursday after the US Commerce Department reported that US consumer spending and incomes rose 0.2 percent in April from March, in line with forecasts but suggesting sluggish growth in the world's biggest economy is continuing.
Adjusted for inflation, consumer spending was unchanged from March.