April bringing optimism in the market? (01-04-2008)

A dismal first quarter closed on Wall Street on a positive note yesterday, although it was nowhere near enough to offset the decline since the beginning of 2008. The Dow rose by 46.49, or 0.38 percent, to 12,262.89. Nonetheless, for the quarter, the Dow was down by 7.55%, while the S&P 500 declined 9.92%, and the NASDAQ fell 14.07 percent. 

Stocks in Asia were mixed although major markets were up with Japan rising on technology issues as did South Korea. It was a whole different story on mainland China, where stocks retreated in Shanghai, due to comments by the People's Bank of China yesterday that indicated a more hawkish stance on monetary policy.  

Gold retreated pressured by a firmer dollar; despite a fall in March, it is still up over 10% for the whole quarter. Oil prices have stabilized after dropping more than $4 overnight on concerns of lower demand. 

European stocks have been on the rise since early morning trading. Curiously UBS led a bank rally that lifted indices, despite the fact that it has announced further right downs, which bring its bottom line down by $12 billion in the first quarter. Apparently investors were heartened by the bank’s plan to raise more money to offset these losses. 

Over on the other side of the Atlantic, U.S. market futures were higher, also heartened by UBS, which brought focus back on banking stocks.

Source ISFM