Thungen Financial Market Update 3rd April 2014

April 3, 2014 - PRLog -- Thungen Financial is a financial management company for international investors and expatriates. Realise your investment goals with online access to Stocks, CFDs, Futures and Forex trading on 17 exchanges worldwide. Manage your money conveniently with our Multi-Currency Accounts. And take advantage of our 0% entry-fee investment funds.

Thungen Financial Market Update 3rd April 2014

So far this week the markets have seen positive gains in light of a score of economic data and announcements.

Early trading in Asia Thursday morning saw gains across the board after positive news out of the US on Wednesday and stimulus news from China. With talk over concerns about China's growth rates we have been waiting to hear what type of solution they would employ. As a first step today they announced two policies in an attempt to curb the slowdown. Citing a need to spur growth in small businesses, and with an eye on increasing job availability they will be cutting the taxes for small firms. Also, in an effort to help boost the local economy, plans to expand infrastructure, specifically their railway network have also been confirmed. They plan on increasing completion of their existing improvements by 18% and will fund it by selling government bonds to the tune of 150Bn Yuan ($24.6Bn).

Asian Markets as of 3rd April 2014:

Nikkei 15,112.16 +1.11%          SSE Comp. 2,058.99 +0.56%

Hang Seng 22,557.33 +0.15%      ASX 5,415.70 +0.13%

In Europe, the ECB is due to meet today to discuss the current situation in the Eurozone. Speaking before the conference yesterday Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF expressed her reservations that the global economy was facing a "Low growth trap." This, in spite of projected figures of a 3% increase in the global economy for both 2014 and 2015 raised awareness ahead of the European meeting. News out of Europe has been very positive this week with Cyprus seen as stabilizing and Greece agreeing terms for a new round of bailouts over the course of the next three months, even so, the ECB needs to deal with its current run of low inflation which in March reached 0.5%, its lowest since 2009.

European Markets as of 2nd April 2014

FTSE 100 6,659.04 +0.10%          Dax  9,623.36 +0.20%

CAC40 4,430.86 +0.09%          BEL20 3,150.27 -0.02%

Zurich SMI 8,508.26 +0.66%          MICEX 1,373.16 -0.22%

Data out of the US helped push the markets higher on Wednesday as the S&P 500 finished the day at its highest ever. Closing at 1,890.90 the S&P 500 was spurred on by positive figures in Manufacturing and Construction sectors. US Manufacturing grew in March according to the Institute for Supply Management posting 53.7, an improvement over February's 53.2. The increase is put down to the poor weather clearing up and factories being able to return to full capacity. Increases in spending in Construction were also attributed to the change in weather as Government workers were able to return to infrastructure programs.

US Markets as of 2nd April 2014:

S&P500 1,890.90 +0.29%          Dow Jones 16,573.00 +0.20%

NASDAQ 4,276.46 +0.20%

As Asian markets continue to reverse the losses they have seen over the course of the last week, Europe too is expected to start Thursday well. With all eyes on the ECB and what it intends to do regarding the Eurozone today should be a good day for the markets as a whole. Nothing too surprising is expected out of Brussels today however with concerns over the Crimea Region still fresh in the members minds it will be interesting to see what, if any policy changes may be announced.

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DISCLAIMER  The views, opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this service are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Thungen Financial Advisors. All market data within this release is for your general information and enjoys indicative status only. Thungen Financial Advisors does not accept any responsibility for its accuracy or for any use to which it may be put. All share prices and market indexes delayed at least 15 minutes. 52 week high and low values are calculated from close price data.