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International markets - Weekly Movers

From a markets perspective, Egypt and Canada led the pack last week, posting returns of 4.66% and 2.06% respectively over seven days. Indonesia came in third with a gain of 1.99%.  Turkey remained the lowest performer of the week, posting a loss of 4.11%.  Japan and Peru came next with losses over the week of 3.32% and 2.50% respectively.

Looking at individual stocks across international markets, the top performer for the week was Teck Resources Limited, (TSX: TCK.A, TCK.B, NYSE: TCK), Canada’s largest diversified mining company, which posted a return of 8.6% across the week. Other notable strong performers for the week were US financing firm Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) which gained 5.2% and Yanzhou Coal (NYSE: YZC), posting a 5.0% positive return. 

Among the biggest international fallers last week were US tech stock Hewlett Packard, whose share price slid 11.0%, US insurance provider Aflac (NYSE:AFL) was down 8.2% and chemical manufacturer Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) fell by 6.2% across the week. UniCredit, the Italian banking group, fell by 6.0% (BIT: UCG, FWB: CRI).

You should ensure that you are aware of all the potential risks and downsides before investing overseas. This extends to making sure you research the regions you are interested in and fully understand the product in which you are investing. You also need to bear in mind that international investing comes with a currency risk. Fluctuations in currency could have a negative impact on the value of your investment.

International markets - Weekly Movers

The past week saw several economic drivers trigger a bout of market movement.  Strong Chinese economic data followed by fears of "overcooking", renewed concerns on Greek sovereign debt, pressure on commodity prices and a focus on inflation set the economic agenda across the past seven days.

From a markets perspective, positive performance across the week was moderate.  Columbia and Egypt led the pack, each posting a return of 2.8% over seven days, while Peru came in third with a gain of 1.6%.  Turkey pulled back from a strong performance last week to sit at the foot of the table, posting a loss of 6.82%.  European neighbours Portugal and Spain came next with losses over the week of 4.69% and 4.63% respectively.

Looking at individual stocks across international markets, top performer for the week was the pan-European aerospace and defence corporation EADS (Euronext: EAD, FWB: EAD) who posted a return of 10.2% across the week.  Other notable strong performers for the week were US networking hardware firm Juniper (NYSE: JNPR) who gained 6.7% and US retail pharmacy Walgreen (WAG), who posted a 6.2% return. 

Among the biggest international fallers last week were US household name Yahoo, whose share price slid 11.3% over the seven days. Other notable fallers were banking giant Citigroup (NYSE:C) and gaming company Nintendo (FWB: NTO, Pink Sheets: NTDOY), both of which were down 8.1% across the week.

You should ensure that you are aware of all the potential risks and downsides before investing overseas. This extends to making sure you research the regions you are interested in and fully understand the product in which you are investing. You also need to bear in mind that international investing comes with a currency risk. Fluctuations in currency could have a negative impact on the value of your investment.

International markets - Weekly Movers

The past week saw a sharp sell off in international markets, a move triggered by the release of weak economic data from the US, where service sector and jobs growth rates were poorer than expected.

From a markets perspective, only five countries posted a positive performance across the week.  Pakistan led the way with a 6.63% gain over seven days, while Japan was in second pace with a 3.56% return.  Turkey, Indonesia and Peru were the other positive performers.  In contrast, Norway, Russia and India were the worst performers, all posting weekly losses in the 6% - 8% range.

Looking at individual stocks across international markets, top performer for the week was Swedish retail clothing company H & M (OMX: HM B), who posted a return of 7.4% across the week.  German consumer products producer Henkel (FWB: HEN) was the second best performer, with an increase of 6.1% and in third place came US biopharmaceutical Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), up 5.6%.

Among the biggest international fallers last week were Texan firms National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) and Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI), and Canadian gold miner Goldcorp (TSX: G) (NYSE: GG) all of which dropped 10.5% across the seven day period.

You should ensure that you are aware of all the potential risks and downsides before investing overseas. This extends to making sure you research the regions you are interested in and fully understand the product in which you are investing. You also need to bear in mind that international investing comes with a currency risk. Fluctuations in currency could have a negative impact on the value of your investment.