War worries colour markets
War worries remained paramount on investors’ minds this week. The fears were compounded with warnings of terrorist attacks on targets in the US and UK.
Although some investors seized the day by bargain hunting late during Thursday’s session, this did little to swing the tide.
The DJIA was the biggest loser during the week, shedding 1.45% before Friday’s session when it stood at 7749.87, firmly below the 8,000-point barrier.
The tech-laced Nasdaq performed slightly better and was up by a fraction of a percent at the same time when it stood at 1277.44. The FTSE-100 closed Thursday’s session at 3610.8, up slightly from last week, although it was expected to make more gains during Friday’s session.
There was some positive economic data from the US as figures suggested that retail sales, excluding autos, went up by 1.3% in January.
However, any positive influence from this news was overridden by talk of war especially as the rift between those for and against the war widened. The dispute over North Korea’s nuclear program also started to take its toll on investor confidence.
On the corporate front, PC maker Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) reported a 32% rise in Q4 net profits. On the flip side, mobile equipment makers, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY) announced major job cuts during the week due to declining demand, slashing 550 and 1,200 jobs respectively. Both company’s stocks were down as a result.
In London, threat of terrorist attacks were high on the agenda especially as the army were drafted in the secure the major airports and a man was arrested for carrying a grenade at one of Gatwick.
Although investors’ remained nervous, a rally led by the oil and financial sector is expected to provide a respite during Friday’s session.
Shares in Irish company, Alphyra Group (ALH.L) rose by over 3% during the week to 170p on rumours that the company was a possible takeover target for US electronics payment company, Euronet. However, Euronet later denied the claims. In a separate development, the company’s management increased its MBO offer to €2.70 from €2.45, valuing the company at €88m.
Payments solutions company, Datalex announced that it had won a new contract with Siemens UK. Its US OTC shares fell by 8.08% during the week to 0.98 US cents.
eSecurity solutions company, Baltimore (BLM.L) also announced that it had won a new major contract with Telecom Italia. Baltimore shares were up by 14.73% during the week to 37p.
