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Positive sentiment from the eurozone, with Greece receiving the promise of its hoped for bail-out funds, saw the London FTSE100 gain 1.45% to close the month on 5,866.8 and the wider FTSE250 finishing on 12,034.2 for a more modest rise of 0.83%. In mainland Europe, the Eurostoxx 50 likewise gained 2.86% to finish at 2,575.25.

With the American Presidential elections successfully put to bed, with Mr Obama being returned for a second term, he now has to turn his attention to the possible fiscal cliff threatening the USA’s government finances, the Dow Jones therefore marked time, finishing November on 13,025.58, down a modest 0.54%. The Nasdaq faired a little better, closing on 3,010.24 up 1.11%.

The Japanese Nikkei 225 had a strong month, recording a 5.8% gain to close on 9,446.01. As always, the foreign exchanges tracked the global political and fiscal situation carefully with UK sterling closing at US$1.60, little change on the month, whilst against the Euro it finished the month at €1.23, down 1.6%,  reflecting the better sentiment seen regarding the southern European sovereign debt issues. The Euro itself finished the month at US$1.30.

Oil saw little change in November with the Brent Crude benchmark ending at $109.51 up a marginal 0.75%. Gold had a volatile trading month with the precious metal dipping to $1,705.63 at one point, only to bounce back to finish November on $1,742.05, for an eventual monthly gain of 1.9%.

Marekets: (Data compiled by The Outsourced Marketing Department)

Latest Market news: (Data compiled by The Outsourced Marketing Department)

With the equity markets still closely following developments in the Eurozone, the mixed messages coming out of Spain and Germany resulted in a lively monthly session.

The UK’s FTSE100 had gained over 3.5% at the mid-point in the month
to stand at 5,915.5, however, the Spanish economy’s continuing weakness coupled with the prospect of them having to request a bail-out from the EU, meant it fell back later to end the month on 5,742.1, up only a modest 0.54%. It now sits at -11.94% against its long term trend. The FTSE250 fared a little better gaining 2.84% on the month and finishing at 11,734.1. The AIM also did well closing September on 705.76 or up 3.66%.

American markets remained more resilient with the Dow Jones closing on 13,437.13 up 2.65% and the Nasdaq up 1.61% at 3,116.23. Mirroring the movements of the FTSE100 the Eurostoxx50 closed relatively flat at 2,454.26 or up 0.56%. In Japan the Nikkei ended the month on 8,870.16 to show a rise of 0.34%.

Currencies also followed the Eurozone news with sterling finishing at $1.61, up a modest 1.5% against the greenback and at €1.252 against the euro, a dip of 0.87%. The euro itself ended the session on $1.29 against the US$.

Gold continued to glitter, with bullish sentiment and forecasts for the precious metal pushing the price up again for the fourth straight month, finishing September on $1,772.04. This represents a 15.7% appreciation so far this calendar year, but is still below its September 2011 peak of $1,921.

On the oil markets Brent Crude saw little change during the month ending on $112.39.


Enable's monthly economic review is intended to provide background to recent developments in investment markets as well as to give an indication of how some key issues could impact in the future.

It is not intended that individual investment decisions should be taken based on this information; we are always ready to discuss your individual requirements.