Britain and Europe
A slip of the finger cost the FTSE-100 dearly on Monday, when a dealer added two zeros to a closing trade and sent the FTSE plummeting. The error was quickly rectified Tuesday morning, but the damage had been done. Despite that, the FTSE, as well as the DAX and CAC, ended the week on the positive side.

The week kicked off with the spectacular results of what, apparently, was one of the worst cases ever of an input error, wiping 130 points off the FTSE 100 just before the close of trading on Monday. And while that drama was being played out and debated around the trading desks and in the press, the market got another 50 basis point reduction in US interest rates - the fifth so far this year. Investors were buoyed by the strength of the U.S. equities markets, which did falter at times, though, on gloomy earnings and prospects for a very soft second quarter as well.

Asia
Asian indexes followed here were heartened by the Fed's bold 50 basis point cut and the delayed but positive reaction of U.S. equities markets. The indexes were weighed down, however, by the much anticipated announcement by MSCI of the reformulation of its indexes. The Nikkei fell on concern Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. may cut the weightings of the market's two biggest companies in the new indexes. Japanese companies are vulnerable because of the many government and bank cross stock holdings.

The move to free float means that fund managers who use indexes as benchmarks when constructing portfolios have to adjust their holdings to reflect the changes to MSCI's weightings, or they risk under performing relative to their chosen index. Observers were divided on the immediate impact of Saturday's changes. But companies, sectors and countries with the most liquid shares will benefit from increased investment over time. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index also weakened before MSCI's weekend announcement.

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