Markets 4-8 May 2009

A good week on the markets as confidence begins to return.

FTSE: 4462.09 (up 218.87 or 5.2%)
DOW: 8574.65 (up 362.24 or 4.4%)
£: $1.5230 (up 3.19¢ or 2.1%)
£: €1.168 (down 0.71¢ or 0.6%)
Oil: $58.19 (up $5.77 or 11.0%)
Oil: £38.21 (up £3.05 or 8.7%)
Oil: €42.67 (up €3.16 or 8.0%)
Gold: $907 (up $22.5 or 2.5%)
Gold: £595.64 (up £2.35 or 0.4%)
Gold: €665.09 (down €1.59 or 0.2%)

Big increase in the price of oil (sign of confidence), in the UK stock market (given that, in dollar terms it went up almost 7.5%) and several other indicators of economic well-being.

Despite this, you cannot say the worst is over. A similar rally occured in 1931. Only time will tell when this is over, but last week was 4th in a row where the FTSE rose, and the 8th in 9. Fear is passing, perhaps giving the current market levels a better scale of realism, as the "panic" of February seems to pass. Of course, come June, we might find a different story.