Last week did not bring a major settlement of the situation on the world indices. The direction was not clearly defined. In Europe, the changes were marginal - DAX gained a symbolic 0.02%, while the French CAC40 lost 0.19%. The correction is trying to exit the US stock exchange and last week may be counted among the successful. The DJIA gained 0.62%, the S&P500 went up 0.72%, and the tech companies showed the highest growth with NASDAQ ended up by 0.79%. The market was primarily expected to face the two most prominent US and eurozone monetary policyists at the Jackson Hole Symposium. While the reaction of the market was positive, it is certainly possible to feel inadequate. Both Mario Draghi and Janet Yellen avoided referring to monetary policy issues, and this was expected only by the head of the Fed. However, the market found that prudent statements testify to the lack of willingness to speed up rates increase in the US. The main reaction, however, was focused on the currency market, where the eurodolar strongly appreciated.

SummaryLast week, despite the fact that the season on the WSE entered a hot period, it did not bring any major index changes. The largest WIG20 companies lost 0.5%, slightly smaller falls of 0.25% were recorded by small companies. Conversely, the mid-size stocks (mWIG40) gained 0.7%, so the entire WIG lost only 0.25%. The situation in Western Europe was better.

The last week was not fulfilling for the investors. The market sentiment deteriorated after the increase in tension between the US and North Korea. The squabbles between the two sides led to the increase in global risk aversion. As a result, the price of gold went up and Swiss franc and yen appreciated remarkable last week. Thus it is not surprising that major global stock market indices ended the last week in negative territory. During the whole week, the NASDAQ declined by 1.5%, the S&P500 fell by 1.4% and the DJI decreased by 1.1%. In Europe, German DAX went down by 3.4%, French CAC40 shrank by 2.7% and British FTSE250 deteriorated by 2.1%.

Weekly comment MM Prime TFI  - August 7, 2017

Undoubtedly, the FOMC meeting was the most important point in the last week’s economic calendar. In line with the market consensus, the council did not make any changes in the monetary policy. The bank’s statement was much more important issue for investors. According to the document, the reduction of the Fed’s balance would soon start, however, the FOMC paid special attention to the lowering inflation during the last meeting as well. The Federal Reserve is the only hawkish central bank among those the major ones, whereas this aspect has seemed to be discounted, so the market has focused on less dovish rumors from the ECB.