Cautious Investors in Europe and the US

Slight upward trends were prevailing in the European stock exchanges yesterday with Investors appearing cautious, waiting for clearer signs of economic recovery, with more information on the plans of the Europeans to establish a European Monetary Fund and other mechanisms to support the weaker economies. About an hour before the session, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index noted a marginal increase; the focus of interest was highlighted on the raw materials industry due to the rising prices of basic metals such as copper.

The Anglo American Antofagasta, BHB Billiton, Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto and Xstrata took profits from 1% to 2%. Significant growth was also recorded in companies of the energy sector, with BG, Royal Dutch Shell and Total, stimulated by 0.5% to 0.9%. Pressure has been put on the pharmaceutical and drug industry, as Roche Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline declined approximately by 0.5%. A mixed trend prevailed in the financial sector. Barclays saw its share decline to around 1%.

Moving in positive territory during the first hours of the meeting were the indicators across the Atlantic on Wall Street. Investors focused their interest in technology shares, bringing the Nasdaq index [. IXIC] to record the greatest gains. It is worth noting that exactly ten years ago, on March 10, 2000, the Nasdaq was thrown forward to the historical high of 5048.62 points, to follow by a sharp fall. Moderate movements were traced by investors in Asian markets. Tokyo was almost unchanged, as better than expected figures for machinery orders offset strong pressure on the share of Toyota. The expanded Topix index fell 0.2% to 922.44 points. Stabilizing trends prevailed in the markets of Hong Kong and Shanghai.