Global Economic Update - Week Beginning 24th March

March 25, 2014 - PRLog -- Hexagon Capital Management is a privately held wealth management company that manages hundreds of client assets in a wide range of products and services with a non biased, client orientated program that is tailored to each individual or corporate requirement.

The situation in Crimea has continued to dominate the news as the region returns under Russian rule. Ukrainian troops were ordered out of the area by President Turchynov after concerns over the safety of the soldiers and their families were raised. Almost all government and military installations are now under Russian control. As the impact of sanctions are being discussed by both sides it is still too early to predict whether they will have any real long term effect. One report has already been released stating that almost $70bn worth of assets are expected to leave the economy by the end of the quarter. Already under pressure the Russian economy was quoted as being rather stagnant and there are surely concerns regarding the amount of cash leaving the country. Economic sanctions aside, there has been hardly any real world progress and the expulsion of Russia from the G8 barely raised a response from Moscow.

Markets in Asia remained quiet as they responded to the weekends news. PMI data out of China again raised concerns about growth targets as the world's second largest economy went under fire.

Nikkei 225  at 14,473.22 (-0.02%)          Hang Seng at 21,730.71 (-0.54%)

SSE Comp at 2,066.29 (+0.92%)

Markets in Europe continued to post negative results as they waited on further sanctions on Russia to be announced. With the EU having substantially greater exposure to Moscow than the United States the entire Eurozone waits to see what and when the EU will step up its resolve to rein Russia in. So far the sanctions enforced by the EU have had hardly any effect and it is a tricky situation for them to be involved with. Russia has already stated it will respond in kind with any sanctions it believes are too strong. Key concerns are the supply of Natural Gas that Europe so heavily relies upon.

FTSE 100  Closed at 6,520.40 (-0.55%)      Dax Closed at 9,188.76 (-1.65%)

CAC 40 Closed at 4,276.35 (-1.35%)          BEL 20 Closed at 3,052.27 (-1.04%)

IBEX Closed at 9,913.10 (-1.39%)

Zurich SMI Closed at 8,198.02 (-1.11%)

After what was deemed as positive news form the FED last week the US indexes started out the week in poor territory. The announcement that the FED is looking to ease QE and reduce its bond buying liability initially had a positive effect on the markets but soon took a sharp turn in the other direction. Closing out the week down and continuing the trend Monday saw the markets down again. This week there are several key indicators expected which will hopefully add some meaning to the current run of poor performance. With many major economies posting paper improvements it is about time the US followed suit and many will be expecting some positive data soon. Issues in Eastern Europe, China and the Middle East continue to affect the US economy and until these situations are in some part resolved the US will struggle to see real positive growth themselves.

Dow Jones Closed at 16,276.68 (-0.15%)

NASDAQ Closed at 4,226.39 (-1.17%)

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DISCLAIMER  The views, opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this service are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Hexagon Capital Management. All market data within this release is for your general information and enjoys indicative status only. Hexagon Capital Management does not accept any responsibility for its accuracy or for any use to which it may be put. All share prices and market indexes delayed at least 15 minutes. 52 week high and low values are calculated from close price data.