Sharemarkets ended a good week with something of a whimper early Saturday as the strong support from earlier in the week dissipated.
Last week saw a solid rebound in sharemarkets, commodities prices and commodity-related currencies like the $A gathered pace.
US and Australian shares have closed above the range they have been in since their sharp fall in August which was a very positive sign.
But not on the ASX futures market which closed with a small loss, meaning our market will start the week later today with a loss of around 18 points.
It was a sign (along with low trading volumes in most markets) that the current rebound isn’t as soundly based as some analysts are claiming.
There was just the hint of a relief rally running out of steam on Friday in Asia, Europe and then the US.
The major driver though has been diminishing concerns regarding both China and the Fed.
The rebound in share markets has been reinforced by stronger commodity prices, which has helped energy and mining shares.
So over the week US shares gained 3.3%, European shares rose 5%, Japanese shares rose 4%, Chinese shares gained 4.3% and the Australian share market rose 4.5%.
In fact it was the best week European markets have had since January, while US markets had a similar experience, and the ASX had its best week for nearly four years.
US stocks closed slightly higher on Friday, ending the S&P 500’s best week this year on a quiet note as investors waited for the US third-quarter earning season to step up this week.
The Dow rose 33.74 points, or 0.2%, to 17,084.49, the S&P 500 gained 1.46 points, or 0.07%, to 2,014.89 and the Nasdaq Composite added 19.68 points, or 0.4%, to 4,830.47.
The S&P 500 had a weekly gain of 3.3%, its best week since December 2014, the Dow rose 3.7%, while Nasdaq rose 2.6%.
In Australia, the ASX rose for the fifth straight day on Friday for its best week since December 2011, thanks to the revival in fortunes in resource and energy stocks.
The ASX 200 added 69 points, or 1.3%, on Friday to close at 5279.7, or 4.5% higher for the week. The All Ordinaries index gained 1.3% on Friday and 4.3% over the week at 5309.2.
