Equity Review: Was the EU summit a much needed catalyst?

Another volatile week as the markets were again moved by the European drama. Pessimism last Monday, ahead of the European Union summit at the end of the week, led to a positive surprise by Friday. Compromises were made over further integration of the EU monetary system causing stocks to end the week higher.

The PIIGS and other European countries were the big winners for the week. Greece, Italy, Spain lead the pack, posting performances of in excess of 9 percent each. Will the result of the European Summit be the catalyst for Europe to close the performance gap with the US? There are still however a lot of unanswered questions regarding the banking recapitalisation which needs to be straightened out to enable further positive momentum in equity markets. 

US health insurance companies took a blow last week on concerns about their future earnings following a US Supreme court ruling which enforced Obama’s healthcare law. The ruling obligates individuals and insurers to create affordable healthcare policies.