Recap of global markets

Europe and Britain

While the United States was celebrating Independence Day, the London FTSE-100, Paris CAC and Frankfurt DAX managed to steady themselves after beginning another week on a slippery downward slope. Before the FTSE-100 revived, however, it fell below its post-September 11 lows and to its worst level in more than five years. It was also at its lowest since Tony Blair became prime minister. There seemed to be virtually no support for the index as it joined U.S. and European markets in a global slide. The succession of corporate scandals has sapped confidence in accountancy standards and earnings prospects. Investors were desperately hoping for some good news to block out the fears of more corporate scandals.

European markets also managed to regain some of the week's losses. In Paris, the Cac-40 was at its lowest level in three-and-a-half years after a scandal involving a large French company (Vivendi) reminded investors that European companies are not immune from poor corporate governance. Vodafone also raised eyebrows.

Asia

The Asian indexes followed here managed to rebound last week after the second quarter’s dismal end. They also managed to ignore the dour climate emanating from Europe and the Americas early in the week. But the Asian indexes were not able to escape volatility. The Nikkei rose 190 points on Wednesday, only to lose 179 on Thursday. But this wasn’t the end — on Friday, the index bounced up again, and this time by 193 points. The South Korean Kospi regained its poise and rose 4.7 percent on the week after losing 3.3 percent the week before. The Hong Kong Hang Seng barely was able to make up Tuesday’s loss, managing to eke out a 0.1 percent gain.