U.S. stocks trade flat in the week ending 28 July

European shares rebound amid upbeat earnings reports

European stock markets closed mostly lower on Friday amid growing concerns over the impact tougher sanctions against Russia would have on Europe.

The Stoxx 600 Index closed the week at 341.95 for a 1.2% weekly advance, despite falling as much as 0.7% from Thursday to Friday. The index received a positive boost from such firms as Danske Bank and Actelion raised their annual profit projections. Six out of nineteen industry groups posted weekly losses, whereas banking shares were the biggest market movers. Banco Comercial Portugues jumped nearly 48%, as the lender more than doubled its share capital. Royal Bank of Scotland Group share price rose by 16% to 4.60 euros after it had reported an unexpectedly high rise in profit. The bank estimated its pre-tax earnings to double to 2.65 billion pounds for the first six months of the year.

The German DAX Index retreated 1.6% to 9,644.01 on Friday after data showed business sentiment in the country declined for the third month in a row. However, the gauge was 0.3% up on week.

The FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.9% in the week ending 25 July amid improving outlook on the British economy.

U.S. stocks trade flat in the week ending 28 July

U.S. stock market suffered losses on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its biggest drop in a week, as companies, such as Visa Inc. and Amazon.com, released negative news. The of electronic payments network slumped accounted for more than third of the drop in Dow. Apart from that, U.S. reported worse than expected core CPI data for June and a decline in new home sales. However, the markets cheered positive news on core durable goods and existing home sales.

The S&P 500 Index added 0.2% on week to end Friday's session at 1,978.34, falling from Thursday’s record close at 1,987.98. Health care sector posted biggest weekly advance among all industry groups, as Intuitive Surgical shares advanced 21% to $469.70, the highest level in more than three months. The medical firm jumped on Friday after its stock was upgraded to “buy” by TheStreet Ratings. Xilinx Inc. capped further gains in the technology sector, as the company said it expects its sales to decline by 4%.

The NASDAQ Composite was 0.6% up on week, despite losing nearly 23 points on Friday when the gauge closed at 4,449.56.

Asia Pacific shares trade higher on positive earnings

Asia Pacific shares traded mostly in the green zone on Friday following better than forecasts earnings reports in the U.S. and clear signs of a rebound in the global manufacturing.

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index reached its highest level in six years at 5,587.8 on Thursday. The index slightly retreated on Friday for the first time in eight sessions to close the trading day at 5583.50, as investors booked some profit. The benchmark gauge was 0.8% up on week. Among the ten industry groups, technology sector showed the best weekly performance, followed by basic materials group. Boart Longyear Ltd dragged higher the latter sector with a 160% weekly jump that analysts were not able to explain, as the mining services supplier recently announced its plans of raising capital.

The New Zealand stock market traded firmly in green the last week paced by Xero which said it is considering a New York listing. The NZX 50 Index was 1.3% up on week and closed the Friday’s session at 5,194.27.

The Hang Seng Index ended the week at 24,216.01 for its best weekly gain in more than three months amid continued strength in the shares, especially the banking ones.

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