It was another good week for equity markets with the banks leading the charge. Barclays was the front runner, rising to over £2.90 at one point and gaining over 10% on Thursday alone. Barclays is benefiting from the so called ‘independence’ premium, and speculation over the potential gains to be made with the sale of its BGI unit. With today’s gains, Barclays has overtaken Britain’s only other remaining independent bank, in terms of returns over the last year. Barclays has lost 40.53%, while HSBC has lost 45.50% over the last 365 days. Interestingly, HSBC is the only major UK bank which hasn’t rallied by 55% or more in the last month. Santander’s results certainly helped sentiment in the sector across Europe.

It wasn’t just the banks enjoying some welcome interest, BSkyB posted excellent results that showed there was some truth in the belief that people will spend more on home entertainment in a recession. Sky’s profits were also boosted by demand for its HD service.

US markets were also strong with Nasdaq 100 making it eight winning weeks on the trot. The rally came despite record continuing jobless claims in the US. However, it is thought that the decline in the four week average of weekly claims is pointing to a peak. Investors know they aren’t out of the woods yet, but perhaps what we’re seeing at the moment is a belief that financial Armageddon has been averted.

Markets were idle on Friday, with most of Europe enjoying a bank holiday, and UK traders eyeing the clock ahead of their long weekend. In fact, Friday’s trading on the FTSE 100 was the smallest since June 2008. Historically markets tend to bottom when volatility subsides. The VIX options volatility index continues to drop and credit markets indicate a renewed appetite for risk taking. It appears that traders may finally believe they have a grip on things. The world economy may continue to plummet, but at a much more predictable rate. Whether markets are too complacent, and in for a rude awakening or not, is another question.

The coming week starts in earnest with the release of US Pending home sales on Monday. Tuesday afternoon brings two market moving announcements with Fed chairman Bernanke testifying alongside the release of the latest ISM non manufacturing PMI data. Wednesday brings the ADP Non Farm Employment Change data, with UK Services PMI in the morning. Thursday is busy with the MPC and ECB releasing their official bank rates along with news of any planned central bank actions. The ECB are expected to cut rates by a quarter of 1%. The release of the bank stress test is tentatively planned for the afternoon. Then to cap off an already busy week, we have US Non Farm Payrolls on Friday.

After rising for 8 weeks on the trot, the Nasdaq 100 could be due a pull back.

A bear trade predicting that the Nasdaq 100 will be below 1390 in 9 days could return 100% at BetOnMarkets.com.

Economic Calendar for week 4th – 8th May

**Note: All times GMT, not DST**

Monday May 4th:

Bank Holiday UK & Japan.

GE – 06:00 – Retail Sales M/M.
EU – 08:00 – Final Manufacturing PMI.
EU – 08:30 – Sentix Investor Confidence.
US – 14:00 – Pending Home Sales M/M.
US – 14:00 – Construction Spending M/M.
EU – 18:00 – FOMC Member Lacker Speaks.

Tuesday May 5th:

Bank Holiday Japan.

UK – 08:30 – Construction PMI.
EU – 09:00 – PPI M/M.
US – 14:00 – Fed Chairman Bernanke Testifies.
US – 14:00 – ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI.
UK – 23:01 – Nationwide Consumer Confidence.

Wednesday May 6th:

US – 02:30 – FOMC Member Yellen Speaks.
UK – 08:00 – Services PMI.
EU – 09:00 – Retail Sales M/M.
UK – 09:30 – BRC Shop Price Index Y/Y.
US – 12:15 – ADP Non-Farm Employment Change.
US – 14:30 – Crude Oil Inventories.
US – 21:30 – FOMC Member Yellen Speaks.

Thursday May 7th:

FR – 06:45 – Trade Balance.
GE – 10:00 – Factory Orders M/M.
UK – 11:00 – MPC Rate Statement.
UK – 11:00 – Official Bank Rate.
EU – 11:45 – Minimum Bid Rate.
EU – 12:30 – ECB Press Conference.
US – 12:30 – Unemployment Claims.
US – 12:30 – Prelim Nonfarm Productivity Q/Q.
US – 12:30 – Prelim Unit Labour Costs. Q/Q.
US – 13:15 – FOMC Member Evans Speaks.
US – 14:30 – Natural Gas Storage.
US – 19:00 – Consumer Credit M/M.

Friday May 8th:

Bank holiday France.

GE – 06:00 – Trade Balance.
UK – 08:30 – PPI Input M/M.
UK – 08:30 – PPI Output M/M.
GE – 10:00 – Industrial Production M/M.
US – 12:30 – Non Farm Employment Change.
US – 12:30 – Unemployment Rate.
US – 12:30 – Average Hourly Earnings M/M.
US – 17:00 – FOMC Member Lacker Speaks.
US – 17:15 – FOMC Member Evans Speaks.

EU – Europe wide
FR – France
UK – United Kingdom
US – United States
GE – Germany