Top > Business > 2006 > June > 2006-06-14

Stock Exchanges Take Dives Around the World

In what is reported to be the Nikkei index?s single biggest daily loss in over two years, Japan?s stock indicator fell 4.14 percent. In Japan?s technology-heavy business world, the poor performance or forecast for a company can mean doom for the stock exchange. As some bad tech news from the U.S. came out, European indices and Japan?s took sharp dives that, according to some, threatened to wipe out all gains made on such stock exchanges in 2006 up to now.

In other news, though, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the euro as investor confidence in the Federal Republic of Germany fell and as oil prices rise and fall based primarily on news related to the efforts to get the Islamic Republic of Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities. London?s FTSE index fell by 1.9 percent to 1,242 points, the lowest that the FTSE has fallen since December 2005. Meanwhile, there has been speculation that interests rates will rise once again in the United States.

Home sales in some areas of the United States, meanwhile, are struggling as overpriced homes missed the boat of opportunity for a time when their listing prices might have gotten them sold right away. There have been warnings for almost a year of a housing bubble burst, and for the moment it doesn?t appear to be that if the bubble has burst the effects have been as negative as some doomsayers predicted.