Markets: 18-22 May 2009

A delayed post, but this tracks movements between Friday close (15 May) and Friday close (22 May). Major movements were on currencies rather than stock markets.

FTSE: 4365.29 (up 17.18 pts, 0.40%)
DOW: 8277.32 (up 8.68 or 0.10%)
£: $1.592 (up 7.41¢ or 4.88%)
£: €1.1369 (up 1.28¢ or 1.14%)
Oil: $60.63 (up $4.56 or 8.13%)
Oil: £38.08 (up £1.14 or 3.10%)
Oil: €43.30 (up €1.77 or 4.27%)
Gold: $959.75 (up $30.25 or 3.25%)
Gold: £602.86 (down £9.50 or 1.55%)
Gold: €685.39 (down €2.96 or 0.43%)

Put simply, the dollar fell dramatically, but the stock markets were unfazed. Of course, in dollar terms, the FTSE rose over 5%, but since that isn't how it is measured, it doesn't get mentioned in the news (in £ terms, the DOW fell over 4.5%).

My point about oil price shifts being less dramatic when measured in pounds remains true.