Markets

Inventories of cardio tonic drugs on trading floors must have been depleted, in one of the most feverish weeks in quite a while. The equity market roller-coaster was driven primarily by contradictory news on rescue plans for Spanish banks and expectations of more monetary stimuli in both the US and Eurozone. This was followed by the G7 teleconference, the Chinese rate cut, statements by Draghi and Bernanke, pressure from the US on Germany and the umpteenth downgrade for Spain. The S&P scored on Wed its biggest one-day percentage gain of 2012 and the following day China’s surprise cut sparked another rally in global stock markets, with investors confident that Beijing will ride to the rescue of a global economy. Then Bernanke poured cold water on QE3. The oil price reflected these wild gyrations, ending near the lowest since Oct 2011 year and almost 25% below the high in Feb. Gold lost its shine slightly after Bernanke’s testimony. The Euro overall fell and the Yen rebounded once again.