Weekly Market Update

The major stock markets finished Friday on a negative note, adding to their losses for the second consecutive week of broad market declines attributed to geopolitical concerns (North Korea last week) and tremors within the White House (this past week). For the week, the Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq finished with respective losses of 0.8%, 0.7%, and 0.6%. Asian and European markets also closed broadly lower, with Japan’s Nikkei index finishing at a three-month low.

Emerging-market funds saw withdrawals of $1.6 billion in the week that ended Wednesday, the largest weekly outflow since last December, according to data provider EPFR.

Strong demand from foreign buyers is giving US corporations their best earnings season in 13 years. Among more than three-quarters of companies in the S&P 500 index, profit has outstripped analysts’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Consumer sentiment in the United States has climbed to a seven-month high as a measure of the outlook for the U.S. economy and personal finances registered the largest one-month advance since the end of 2011, according to University of Michigan survey data released Friday.

Economic activity in Brazil rose 0.50 percent from May after seasonal adjustments, the central bank said on Thursday. The central bank also revised the previous month’s reading to show a 0.37 percent decline, smaller than the originally reported 0.51 percent drop. Retail sales in Brazil rose 1.2% on month in June according to the national statistics office. Could economic recovery be taking hold in Brazil?

Japan’s exports rose for an eighth straight month in July, according to information released Thursday by Japan’s Ministry of Finance. Import volume increased for a fifth consecutive month. Annualized economic growth in Japan accelerated 4% in the quarter that ended in June, outstripping economists’ forecasts of 2.4%. The Cabinet Office said domestic demand, which rose 1.3%, was the major factor driving the expansion.

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