Thungen Financial Markets 23rd April 2014 Update

April 23, 2014 - PRLog -- Thungen Financial is a financial management company for international investors and expatriates. Realise your investment goals with online access to Stocks, CFDs, Futures and Forex trading on 17 exchanges worldwide. Manage your money conveniently with our Multi-Currency Accounts. And take advantage of our 0% entry-fee investment funds.

Thungen Financial Markets 23rd April 2014 Update

As Europe returned to the office yesterday it was generally a good day across the markets with trading levels finally returning to normal levels.

Asian markets have remained relatively flat for the past few sessions amidst economic data giving a mixed signal about the region. Earlier in the week Japanese data showed that their deficit has quadrupled to over $14bn. Largely based on their increased need to input energy the fact that the fuels are costing substantially more than last year is having a severe effect on their economic position. Despite this the Nikkei has managed to stay solid holding moderate gains through Wednesday trading. Continued poor data out of China feeds the concerns about their economic growth potential. The HSBC PMI data figures released showed a continued contraction in the index, anything under 50 confirms this and at 48.3 for March, although better than the previous week, it is still below expectations. The Chinese Government continues to add to its mini stimulus package after they announced that they have reduced the amount rural banks have to keep in reserve. Although seen as a very small move (releasing some RMB100mn into the markets) it does prove that they are looking to help reduce the slowing economy. The Aussie dollar took another blow today as the Consumer Price Inflation for the last quarter was lower than expected at 0.6%. The AUD dropped to $0.9292, its lowest since Apr 8th.

Asian Markets as of 23rd April 2014:

Nikkei 14,503.36 +0.80%          SSE Comp. 2,072.83 +0.34%

Hang Seng 22,536.62 -0.85%      ASX 5,498.70 +0.58%

European markets had a good day yesterday with the majority posting above 1% gains. Spurred on by a good earnings season in the US and several large scale merger rumors the bourses held on to the gains of late last week. News in the Pharmaceutical sector was awash with reports that AstraZeneca had approached Pfizer and that GlaxoSmithKline were in talks with Novartis, this helped keep the local European indexes in the green which looks set to continue as European futures are set to open slightly higher today. With preliminary figures due on the Eurozone's Factory Output all eyes will be looking to see whether the perceived economic growth is set to continue. The only real stalling block is the crisis in the Ukraine and how the situation will play out. With tensions rising and more violence being reported on a daily basis it is hard to see where this will go. The US continues to threaten harsher sanctions should Moscow continue in the same vein however Europe is keeping surprisingly quiet as it watches the US and Russia trade conference calls. The Geneva accord set just last week seems to have done nothing by way of starting to resolve situation and it is disconcerting that the region is facing such a destabilizing crisis when the rest og the global economy struggles to prove it is recovering.

European Markets as of 23rd April 2014

FTSE 6,681.76 +0.85%         Dax  9,600.09 +2.02%          CAC40 4,484.21 +1.18%

BEL20 3,145.54 +1.08%      Zurich SMI 8,461.30 +1.03%

MICEX 1,336.81 -0.59%

The markets in the US continued their run of consecutive gains as earnings season sustained its positive reports. The S&P 500 saw its 6th straight gain off the back of Netflix AT&T and Harley Davidson among others beating earnings expectations. With plenty of big hitters still to come there is a certain positivity in the US markets at the moment and this as always has had a nurturing effect to the other indexes. Even despite poor data on Existing Homes data all three of the major indexes held gains with the NASDAQ up just under a percent at 0.97%. Mid week see's data on New Homes Sales and Earnings reports from Apple, Boeing and Qualcomm just to pick out a few. With President Obama in Asia this week on a free trade tour we should see some support for the markets at current levels. His trip is expected to solidify the current Pan Pacific Free Trade Agreement and looks to unify the area and help build ties with the US. With China not invited to join the US are certainly showing their cards however any bi-lateral agreements will surely improve the economy within the region.

US Markets as of 23rd April 2014

S&P500 1,879.55 +0.41%          Dow Jones 16,514.37 +0.40%

NASDAQ 4,161.46 +0.97%

Now that all the indexes are fully back up to speed the week should continue to see green across the board. With little in the way of economic indicators due and a slew of earnings still to be released the momentum could see what is usually a volatile time of the year settle and start to see more money returning to the markets.

Thungen Financial would like to take this opportunity to wish its clients, employees and its readers a very Happy Easter and we will be back to our usual form early next week.

For more information on the services provided by Thungen Financial please visit our website at www.thungenfinancial.com or contact us on info@thungenfinancial.com.

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 Thungen Financial Advisors. All market data within this release is for your general information and enjoys indicative status only. Thungen Financial Advisors 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.