Last week was another mixed affair for the world’s major markets with US markets and the FTSE making gains. Friday marked the final trading session for August for the purposes of these reports and only the gold price showed a gain over the month.

In Europe over the course of the week, the FTSE was up on last week’s close by 1.1% at 7324, but it fell by 1.7% over the month; the DAX ended at 12168, up just by 0.02% on last week’s close, but slipping by 0.9% in August; the CAC was down by 0.19% to end the session at 5104.3, shedding 2.1% over the month.

The Dow ended the week up by 0.64% to close at 21814, losing 1.3% in August. The Nasdaq composite index was up by 0.79% over the course of the week at 6265.6, but it ended the month down by 1.4%.

The Nikkei 225 ended the week’s trading down by 0.09% to end the session at 19453, falling by 3% in August.

Currency markets review

On the currency markets last week the Euro enjoyed the best of the trading. The Dollar was weaker against Sterling last week closing at $1.2875 to the Pound, a fall of 0.23% on the week, but it rose by 1.2% over the month. The Greenback weakened against the Euro last week by 1.1% to close at $1.1874 to the Euro, it fell by 1% over the course of August. The Dollar weakened against the Japanese currency closing at 109.3 Yen to the Dollar, making a loss of 0.08% during the week and falling by 1.4% on the month.

The Euro was stronger against the Yen ending at 129.7, a gain of 0.99% over the course of the week, but slipping by 0.35% over the month. It made ground against Sterling last week, rising by 0.84%, the close saw one £ buying €1.0844 and by 2.2% over the month.

The Euro now buys 1.1368 CHF, a gain of 0.34% on the week, but it slipped by 0.48% in August.

Commodities market review

On the commodities market, the price for Brent crude ended at $52.41 per barrel, a fall of 0.59% over the course of the week’s trading, to end the month virtually unchanged. The value of gold rose last week closing at $1290.5 per ounce, a gain of 0.29% on the week and 1.7% over the month.