Who Let The Bears Out? Week In Review, Sept. 26-30, 2011

As the third quarter ends and the fourth quarter begins, the markets are looking decidedly bearish.

British blue chip stocks took a hit on Thursday, closing in the red. U.S. blue chip stocks gained on Thursday, thanks in part to the news that Germany had approved funding for the crisis in the Euro zone. The euro declined against the U.S. dollar due to more worries about the state of Europe’s unresolved debt crisis. The euro was down $1.3322, from $1.3390 on Friday. Even though the dollar itself experienced a minor drop, it remained stronger against the euro.

Despite volatile but encouraging activity earlier in the week, the major U.S. Indexes all closed down on Friday, with the Dow finishing under 11,000 points at 10,913.38. Even blue chip stocks such as GE, Apple, and Google finished behind on Friday. Not surprisingly in difficult financial times, Hershey’s chocolate and discount retailer Ross’ Stores both posted gains of 0.49% and 0.38% respectively.

With additional support for Greece being approved, things are looking up for the Euro zone, but the markets still may get worse before they get better.

Commodities have lost value along with stocks. Oil is currently trading at 78.00 -1.52% Oil supplies from the dozen members of OPEC is expected to average around 30.25 million barrels per day in September, which is an increase from August. The national gas price average in the United States is currently $3.46. Gold is trading at 1,651.00, rising back 1.77%. Silver is back down to $30.89 per ounce. It has lost more than $12 per ounce in the past two weeks. Copper has also taken a dramatic hit, falling from $4.00 per pound earlier in the month to just $3.15 as the month ended.

Asian markets fell at the end of the week, with steep losses in Chinese indexes. It was the worst performing month for Asian stocks since the economic crisis began three years ago. Manufacturing fell for a third straight month, according to September data. The Hang Seng dropped nearly 5% for the week, and the Nikkei lost 2.6%. Shares of the Bank of China fell more than 6%.
The Mumbai Sensex experienced it’s most drastic drop during a quarter since 2008, falling by 2.44 points to land at 16,453.8 at the close of trading on Friday. The State Bank of India dropped 2.1 percent. Rising interest rates in India have caused bank stocks to falter. Coal India fell by 5%, after the Indian government passed a bill that would require mining firms to profit share. JSW Steel Ltd of India’s share price increased by nearly 5%, thanks to its acquisition of a large amount of raw materials.

The start of the fourth quarter on Monday will no doubt bring more volatility. Perhaps stock in the markers of antacids would be a wise investment.

Here’s how the Markets stood at the close on Friday: