Last Friday marked the final trading session for October from the perspective of these summaries. It was another mixed affair for the world’s major markets.

In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE was down on last week’s close by 0.34%, it closed at 6996.3 and slipped by 0.68% on the month; the Dax ended at 10696, down by 0.14% on last week’s close, but it rose by 2% over the month; the CAC was up by 0.28% to end the session at 4548.6 and was up by 2.2% in October.

The Dow ended the week up again (just) by 0.09% to close at 18161, but it slipped by 0.43% over the month. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down by 1.3% over the course of the week at 5190.1 and down by 1.9% on the month.

The Nikkei 225 ended the week’s trading up by 1.5% to end the session at 17446 and by 3.5% over the month.

Currency markets review

On the currency markets last week the Euro enjoyed the best of the trading. The Dollar was stronger against Sterling last week closing at $1.2153 to the Pound, a gain of 0.47% on the week and 2.2% in October. The Greenback weakened against the Euro last week by 0.58% to close at $1.0932 to the Euro, but it gained 2% over the month. The Dollar was stronger against the Japanese currency, closing at 105.4 Yen to the Dollar, making a gain of 1.4% during the week and 1.9% during October.

The Euro was stronger against the Yen ending at 115.2, a gain of 2% over the course of the week, but it fell by 0.16% on the month. It made ground against Sterling last week, rising by 1.1%; the close saw one £ buying €1.1117, a gain of 0.15% in October.

The Euro now buys 1.0859 CHF, a gain of 0.43% on the week, but it slipped by 0.75% on the month.

Commodities Market Review

On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended at $49.71 per barrel, a loss of 2.5% over the course of the week’s trading and 4.3% in October. The value of gold rose last week, closing at $1276 per ounce, a gain of 0.82% and 2.2% in October.