Markets: (Data compiled by The Outsourced Marketing Department)

Most global equity markets remained on a watching brief in April with little movement. The FTSE100 saw a modest gain of 0.29% to finish the month on 6,430.1, just 2.37% below its long-term trend, whilst the wider FTSE250 closed April on 13,949.9, up 0.19%, and the AIM market at 706.22 to record its second month of decline.

The Dow Jones fared slightly better finishing at 14,839.8, to register a 1.79% gain, and the Nasdaq followed suit with a gain of 1.88% to close at 3,328.79.

Encouraged by the formation of a new coalition government in Italy, the Eurostoxx50 finished April well at 2,712.00 for a gain of 3.35% on the month.

Meanwhile, the Japanese market saw continuing buying interest, with possible carry trade activity, due to the massive boost to the money supply from central bank activity. The Nikkei leapt by 11.8% to close out the month
on 13,860.86. The index has now risen by 33.3% since the end of last year.

On the foreign exchanges, UK sterling appreciated slightly against the greenback to close on $1.55, up 1.9%, whilst it lost ground a little against the Euro, down 0.84% at €1.18.

The Euro also appreciated against the US$ by 3.13%, finishing April at $1.32.

The good news was that the oil price dipped by nearly 7% in the month, with the Brent Crude benchmark closing on $102.37, having dipped below the psychologically important $100 level at one point earlier in the month. Gold had an active month, with a major dip in the price to near $1,350 earlier in the month, but rallying to close at $1,471.35, registering a net 8% fall in the month.

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