American shares traded mixed during last week of February

European stocks added on positive global economic data

Global economic data turned brighter this week, driving European stocks higher. Greece and its creditors agreed on a four-month extension of country’s financial lifeline, settling immediate concerns about a Greece’s exit from the Euro zone. German GDP growth, consumer sentiment and unemployment rate improved. German economy expanded 0.7% in the fourth quarter and 1.6% for the full year. The jobless claims fell by 20,000 to 2.81 million in February, after a 10,000 drop in January, and the unemployment rate of 6.5% is the lowest in more than two decades. Meanwhile, economic sentiment in the Euro zone rose to a seven-month high in February.

The major Eurostoxx 600 Index of the region advanced 1.8% during the working week to close at 392.21 points on Friday’s evening. Almost all the sectors included in the gauge rose, while gains were led by basic materials and utilities, which went up 3.5% and 2.9%, respectively. Among largest market movers, Oci NV, a Netherlands-based company which is engaged in the production of fertilizers, advanced 19.5% to 37.95 euros. Hellenic Telecommun Organiza, a major Greek provider of telecommunications and related services, added 18.6% to 8.90 euros per share. At the same time, stocks of Greek banks lost ground again, despite the settlement of agreement. Eurobank Ergasias SA dropped 14.3% to trade at 0.137 euros, while Piraeus Bank SA decreased 9.8% to 0.568 euros. Weir Group Plc/The, an engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, lost 10.8% to 1,704 pence, after the company posted a fall in fiscal-year earnings.

Among other market indicators, German DAX grew 2.4% to 11,384.50 points, while the British FTSE 100 index rose slightly by 0.5% to close at 6,946.66 mark back on Friday.

American shares traded mixed during last week of February

Last week stock market in the United States expanded notably, even though there were no any major economic data releases. Slower business inventory accumulation and a wider trade deficit led to fourth-quarter GDP growth being revised down to 2.2% from the initial estimate of 2.6%. Moreover, a 4.2% growth in consumer spending was the fastest since the first quarter of 2006. US Consumer Price index fell a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in January from December and 0.1% from a year earlier, posting the first annual decrease since October 2009. Meanwhile, durable goods orders rose a seasonally adjusted 2.8% in January.

The main S&P 500 stock gauge, was the only one which posted slight losses of 0.2% to close at 2,104.50 points on Friday of the previous week. The majority of all sectors that comprise the benchmark lost value, except companies of the telecommunications, consumer discretionary and consumer staples, which lost from 0.5% to 1.5% during the period. Utilities and energy, in turn, plunged 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Among the best-performing companies, First Solar Inc, an American photovoltaic manufacturer of solar panels, soared 21.8% to trade at $59.75 per share on Friday, following a stronger than expected earnings report. Monster Beverage Corp climbed 16.3% to $141.12, after an American distributor of energy drinks reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $125 million, compared with $76 million last year. On the other hand, Chesapeake Energy Corp, the US oil and natural gas company, dropped 17.8% to $16.68 as the firm reported below-consensus earnings and is planning to reduce its 2015 rig count.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 18,132.70 points along with the high-tech index NASDAQ which slipped 0.05% to close at the 4,963.52 mark.

Japan’s share market advanced as Topix reached seven-year high

Stock market in the world’s third largest economy continued to gain value, as Japanese stocks edged up to a seven-year record last week, after an increase in energy extraction due to strong rebound in oil prices. Concerning the fundamental news, the consumer prices in Japan were up 2.4% year-on-year in January, in line with expectations and unchanged from the December reading. Tokyo core CPI, in turn, was up 2.2% on year in February, which was in line with forecasts. However, Japan's unemployment rate worsened for the first time in four months by rising to 3.6% in January, up from 3.4% the preceding month, as more people began searching for jobs amid economic recovery.

The major Topix gauge, however, gained 1.4% in total value during the week ended February 28, reaching the 1,523.85 mark. The absolute leader among industries, gauge of other financing business companies, was able to jump 5.1%, and was followed by insurance sector, which increased 2.9%. Nihon Chouzai Co Ltd, a Japanese company which is primarily engaged in the pharmaceutical business, advanced 21.7% to 4,905 yen, adding the most among largest local companies. Siix Corp and Toei Co Ltd followed with a climb of 21.5% and 20.3% to 2,931 yen and 823 yen, respectively. Meanwhile, Ait Corp, a Japan-based company engaged in the provision of international cargo delivery services, lost 11.8% to trade at 1,215 yen. Hokuetsu Industries Co Ltd lost as much as 8.4% to 994 yen.

In addition, the second most valuable stock indicator of Japan, the Nikkei 225, posted a 1.7% gain to close at 18,585.20 points on the last working day of the preceding month.

Asian shares grew on Fed’s announcement

Asian shares rose during February 23-27 time period, prolonging five-month long gains, as Chair Janet Yellen announced, that the Fed would refrain from raising interest rates in the near three months. New Zealand business confidence improved in February as recent gains in dairy prices turned sentiment around in the agriculture sector. A 34.4% of firms are optimistic about the general economy, up from 30.4% in the previous month. Meanwhile, the Chinese government is going to decrease down-payment for a second real estate purchase and to remove the sales tax, if a home-owner held the estate for two years, compared to the previous five-year minimum. The decision comes after prices for new buildings posted a record drop in January.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 stock market indicator increased slightly 0.3% to hit a 5,928.80 mark on Friday. Almost, all the sectors that comprise the benchmark rose in value, as basic materials added 2.8%. Meanwhile, companies that represent consumer staples, telecommunications and energy mostly declined last week from 2.2% to 5.9%. Market advance, in turn, was led by Southern Cross Media Group L, an Australian major media company, which jumped 19% to trade at $1.095, since company’s net profit slumped to $34.7 million in the six months to December 31, while revenue slipped 7.3% to $307.6 million. However, some companies showed a strong downward movement, as MMA Offshore Ltd, dropped 14.9% to trade at $0.88 due to the plunging oil price.

The Hang Seng Index gained 0.5% to 24,823.29 points last week, while NZX 50 gauge of New Zealand increased 2.1% to close at the 5,878.472 mark on Friday.

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