Europe and Britain
The DAX and CAC managed to hold onto another positive week despite profit taking and less than positive economic news. The FTSE, however, slipped slightly on the week. Most of the weekly gains were lost Friday after a reading on U.S. consumer sentiment proved lower than expected. This tempered optimism that economic growth will accelerate in Europe's largest export market. Demand in the U.S. for European products may be falling. In Britain, the FTSE shrugged off Monday's announcement that the country, in the opinion of the government (read Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown and Prime Minister Tony Blair), was not yet ready to enter the European Monetary Union. Of the five tests formulated to judge whether segments of the economy were prepared, only one test - that dealing with the City and financial sector - was positive.

Asia
Asian stocks rose this week as the Nikkei, Topix and Kospi advanced for a fourth week - their longest rallies in more than a year. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index had its longest weekly string of gains in 3 ½ years. The positive performance was attributed to signs of a recovery in the U.S. - and that optimism is spreading through other markets in Asia. (It should be noted that Asian markets were closed for the week long before the U.S. confidence index reading.) The positive performance by U.S. markets helped boost the Nikkei 2.2 percent and the Topix 1.3 percent. Elsewhere, Korea's Kospi index advanced 3.6 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1.7 percent, up for a seventh week.

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