Britain and Europe
The London FTSE, Paris CAC and Frankfurt DAX hit their lows for 2001 on March 22. Since that time they have recovered steadily. While they still are not back to their 2000 yearend pace, they are closing in on it. At the end of the first quarter, they were more than 15 percent off the yearend level. Now they are down about 5 percent and gaining. Stabilization in U.S. markets, and especially in the Nasdaq, has helped. But what really has made the difference are investors' attitudes about earnings. There is a realization that the earnings roller coaster is subsiding as conviction builds that all or most of the really bad earnings news is out. Investors have begun to act more rationally, taking the good news with the bad with greater equanimity.

Asia
Asian markets also turned around in April, but their performances were more disparate than in Europe. Three indexes are above their year end values - the Australian all ordinaries, Korean Kospi and the Japanese Nikkei. Hong Kong and Singapore are performing under par. Even though the March 31 end to the fiscal year, political uncertainties and the sinking economy affected the Nikkei, it managed to rise minimally above the end of 2000 level. But the Hong Kong Hang Seng is more sensitive to moves in the United States, given its huge export dependency on the United States and its currency link to the U.S. dollar (and therefore, U.S. interest rates). This is Golden Week in Japan and markets will be closed every day next except Tuesday and Wednesday.

Introduction   •   Global Stock Market Indexes   •   Recap of Global Markets   •   Currencies   •  Indicator Scoreboard

The Bottom Line   •   Looking Ahead