Global Markets and Economic Update - 15th April 2014

April 15, 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.

This week has started out well for the majority of the global indexes with gains across the board. Being a short week for most we should see lighter volumes and by rights a return to positive territory before the long weekend.

Finally some good news for Japan. Despite poor data out of China, Japanese markets have managed to post some gains during trading Tuesday. After suffering the knock on effect of the big sell off in tech stocks last week in the US the Nikkei 225 is up 86.65 points (0.62%) this morning. That cannot be said for the rest of the major indexes for the region as confirmation that the money supply in China fell to its lowest rate for almost a decade in March. With a run of poor data out of China this past few months, analysts are looking for some sign of a turnaround. With major economic indicators expected tomorrow there is hope that positive news is on the horizon. Retail Sales and Industrial Output figures along with GDP Growth Rates for both year on year and quarter on quarter are announced tomorrow and GDP figures are predicted to be lower, better retail and industrial data is expected.

Nikkei 225  at 14,003.07 (+0.67%)          Hang Seng at 22,753.47 (-1.29%)

SSE Comp at 2,131.54 (+0.05%)

Markets in Europe should open flat today after a steady days performance yesterday. With positive news from the ECB last week and the European Parliament about to introduce new reforms to make it easier for local governments to close down failing banks; there is a feeling of optimism in the Eurozone that hasn't been seen for a long time. Confirmation that industrial output in the Eurozone grew by just 0.2% did little to deter the optimists. With a decrease in energy of 1.7%, and Coal seeing an 11% decrease in particular, the figures were helped out by an healthy increase in Electronic Component production which saw an 11.5% increase in February. The main shadow over Europe is still the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine. After increased tensions over the weekend which saw pro-Russian supporters miss a deadline to vacate Ukrainian government buildings, a total of 10 towns now have occupied buildings and the protesters continue to call for a referendum on greater autonomy or an option to join the Russian Federation. After a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday the EU pledged €1bn in economic assistance in an effort to pave the way for a peaceful solution. They also confirmed they intend to expand the list of people that are subject to visa bans or asset freezing though this seems to have done very little to persuade Moscow to act accordingly so far. At the same time in Washington, the US Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew offered $1bn in assistance when he met with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksandr Shlapak. President Obama spoke with Vladimir Putin at the request of the Russian yesterday as Putin asked for the US President to do all he can to make sure the situation does not turn into a civil war. Europe desperately needs this situation to come to an end, and soon, the Eurozone can be in recovery all it wants, however, should the crisis not be resolved soon there are serious concerns that Russia will use the Natural Gas card and that could have dire effects on the EU.

FTSE 100  Closed at 6,583.76 (+0.34%)     Dax Closed at 9,339.17 (+0.26%)

CAC 40 Closed at 4,384.56 (+0.43%)

BEL 20 Closed at 3,064.37 (+0.16%)

IBEX Closed at 10,188.20 (-0.17%)

Zurich SMI Closed at 8,312.90 (+0.17%)

After a terrible week for US tech and biotech stocks the markets finally gave a reprieve after the weekend to close on Monday in the green. All three major indexes posted good gains off the back of better than expected Retail Sales data. Figures for March showed the biggest gain since 2012 with an increase of 1.1%. This and news of Citi Groups 4% rise in Quarterly profits helped support the markets. Today the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Ms. Yellen will make an announcement and we will also see data on CPI and the Housing Market Index. All in all we should see continued gains in the US as earnings season continues in earnest.

Dow Jones Closed at 16,173.24 (+0.91%)

NASDAQ Closed at 4,022.69 (+0.57%)

S&P 500 Closed at 1,830.61 (+0.82%)

Despite opening relatively flat we expect to see the momentum continue this week. As previously stated the short week due to Easter tends to lower volumes and as there is a whole host of economic indicators from both China and the US throughout the course of the week, steady gains should be realised.

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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.