Global equities continuously took un upward trend in the market compared to previous weeks.Equity markets were driven by mostly positive corporate earnings releases. However, slight gains were seen due to some issues such as weak US data, the “Grexit”, and weak Chinese GDP data at the end of the quarter.
US equities rallied at the beginning of the week as investors were in full support of a major restructuring plan from General Electric. It was reported that GE’s move could come up a return of US$90 billion to its shareholders. Furthermore, most of the US stocks boosted due to positive corporate earnings. For the S&P500 listed companies, 76.5% have exceeded its profit target.
European stocks rosed a 0.53% week-on-week. The slight gains were also fuelled by positive corporate earnings and the European Central Bank’s (ECB) commitment to its quantitative easing measures. Gains were also limited as investors feared a possible Greece exit in the eurozone economy and as the German stock market will finally lost steam on its QE-fuelled rally.
Asian shares continuously climbed high at 2.05% week-on-week. High liquidty, as well as analyst speculation of further stimulus measures in China, gave investors a positive outlook in the market.
Market Look
| 09-APR-15 | 16-APR-15 | %Change | |
| MSCI World | 1,771.86 | 1,786.58 | 0.83 |
| MSCI Europe | 139.15 | 139.89 | 0.53 |
| MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan | 506.77 | 517.15 | 2.05 |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 17,902.51 | 18,112.61 | 0.86 |
| S&P 500 | 2,081.90 | 2,106.63 | 0.74 |
Next week, some profit-taking were seen in the global market as major indices have run-up quite significantly for the past 2 weeks. Expecting a period of flat or declining prices in the market.
US equities could trade sideways as investors remain on the sidelines awaiting
economic data releases.
