Markets fell this week mainly on European debt crisis concerns, namely on the nervousness over Greece's chance of avoiding a disorderly default as the European Union held up a bailout. The Euro dropped against the dollar and investors found safety in the treasuries as a result putting pressure on equities and commodities.
In the US, stocks posted their largest one-day decline of the year on Friday, terminating the five weeks of gains for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ. The Dow finished 0.5% lower for the week and S&P 500 and the NASDAQ lost 0.2 and 0.1% respectively.
Canadian markets were also affected by Greece concerns as both the major indices fell for the week. Even the Stats Canada report of higher-than-expected trade surplus in December couldn't stop the decline. The TSX fell 1.5% and the TSXV lost 0.7% for the week.
European markets suffered the most on the prolonged Greek saga. Asian markets managed to put a marginal gain for the week as most Asian economies are rebounding on good internal demand. Commodities finished the week mostly in the red as European ministers asked Greece do more to avoid a messy default, which might put pressure on fragile recovery, which in turn could affect the demand of commodities. Crude oil somehow secured a weekly gain of 0.8% even after the IEA cut its outlook for global oil demand. Gold retreated 0.9% to finish at $1725.30 an ounce, we expected the market for gold to be somewhat volatile and now see more positives for gold prices to climb higher in mid-to-long term.
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