Europe and Britain
Equities indexes regained their composure in Britain and Europe, and although sentiment alternated between positive and negative, the bulls won the tug of war - at least for last week. Earnings news dominated the market as investors searched and found favorable reports. But better-than-forecast company results were driven by cost cuts, not sales increases. Economic growth has been faster in Britain than in the rest of Europe, and that has helped British stocks outperform other European shares. This year, the FTSE 100 Index has dropped 21 percent, less than the 32 percent drop in the CAC and the 39 percent drop in the DAX. But economic growth can only help companies if it leads to higher sales, not just increased profits.

Asia
Asian equities followed rising U.S. equities. Japan is still waiting plans from Prime Minister Koizumi on the bad debt crisis. However, the uncertainty did not keep the Nikkei from rising 6.5 percent and the Topix 5.4 percent in the holiday-shortened week. This was their best performance since the week ended March 8th. Koizumi's government has disappointed investors who have been expecting a plan that will match the Bank of Japan's proposal to buy ailing stocks from banks. Any spending plan would run counter to Koizumi's pledge to cap a national debt that's approaching 140 percent of gross domestic product - the highest in the industrialized world.

Exporters' stocks rebounded after strong U.S. housing starts data signaled continued growth. South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong ship about a fifth of their exports to the United States. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index had its biggest weekly gain in seven months, up 7.2 percent, while Singapore Straits Times index jumped 6.4 percent. South Korea's Kospi topped all other equities indexes, soaring 14.2 percent.

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