Europe and Britain
The three indexes followed here were lower on the week after all the negative news got the better of investors. Although the FTSE and CAC righted themselves midweek, the DAX was pulled down on Friday by anthrax scares in Germany. Economic news in Europe continued to show that the economies there are weakening. One can only guess what the impact of the news will have on the ECB when they meet Thursday.

The FTSE and CAC rose the last three days of a tough week. Investors shifted their focus to this week's busy schedule for central banks and pinned their hopes on another round of interest rate cuts in the United States, Britain and Europe. The bad news included further grim economic data especially from the United States, although European purchasing managers surveys also showed sharp drops. In the background was the threat posed by the Argentina debt worries. On the domestic front, there was a continuation of the depressingly familiar profit warnings and job losses.

Asia
The Japanese Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong Hang Seng lost ground last week as the weakening Japanese economy addled investors who are concerned that not enough is being done to pull the nation out of recession. The news continued to get gloomier as quarterly U.S. GDP sank for the first time in years. And evidence continues to point to an even worse fourth quarter as the impact of the September 11 attacks permeates the economy. For economies dependent upon the strength of the U.S. economy via exports, the news hasn't been good.

The South Korean Kospi continues to perform better than other indexes followed here. The Kospi is up 9.1 percent so far this year. Its latest gains stem from optimism on chip sales.

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

The Bottom Line   •   Looking Ahead