Weekly Recap 24-28 AUG

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech was what got most of the attention last week. Fed Chair’s comments included announcing a shift in monetary policy to support the labor market and the economy indicating that the Fed may keep low-interest rates for longer.

The Dow Jones rose 0.6% to 28,653.8, posting a weekly gain of 2.6%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.7% to 3508, while the Nasdaq index rose 0.6% to 11695.6.

As for European stocks, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.5% to 368.8 during the week but closed with weekly gains of 1%, the FTSE index fell 0.6% to 5963.5 with weekly losses, while the German DAX index declined 0.5% to 13033.2, achieving weekly gains 2.1%. The French CAC index fell 0.3% to 5002.9, but closed up 2.1%.

As for the Asian stocks, the Nikkei index recorded a decline of 0.2% over the week, to close its last session at 22882.65, recording losses of 37.65 points. The broader TOPIX index recorded gains of 0.81%, rising about 0.5% to end the week at 1604.06 points.

Gold prices posted some gains and exceeded $ 42 in trading on Friday to record the first weekly gains in 3 weeks. The metal recorded a gain of 1.4% over the past week, while gold futures contracts for December delivery rose to 1963.

As for oil, oil rigs fell by 3 rigs last week, bringing the total to 180, according to Baker Hughes. US Energy Information Administration data showed that natural gas inventories in the United States rose by about 45 Bcf to reach 3420 Bcf. Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 4.7% million barrels last week, to 507.8 million barrels. US crude recorded a weekly increase of 1.5%, and Brent futures for October delivery fell 0.09% to $ 45.08 a barrel.

Data by the US Labor Department revealed that the number of new jobless claims in the United States reached 1.006 million in the week ending August 22, down 98,000 from the previous week after the downward revision.

In Germany, The GFK said its consumer sentiment index, which is based on a survey of nearly 2,000 Germans, fell to -1.8 as September approached a revised level of -0.2 the previous month.