Business
Asian stocks and dollar script upbeat days, Euro surges
With 2016 coming to an end, Asian stocks and the dollar showed upbeat data, while experts estimate that oil is set to see its biggest gain after seven years. After much uncertainty looming over the dollar after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, the dollar value bounced back to negate its earlier losses. The Euro also rose 2% earlier yesterday.
Brexit, Trump, demonetization and the year 2016
The year 2016 saw a medley of interesting business and economic changes, from the EU referendum to United States' President-elect Donald Trump. While Brexit caused furore and economic angst, Trump's win at the US Presidential elections sparked many economists to fear a new economic recession. Last month saw India deal with a massive economic overhaul where high-value currencies were demonetized, resulting in widespread chaos.
Brexit wiped off $2 trillion across global markets
When Britain opted to exit the European Union in a referendum earlier this year in June, reports revealed that over $2 trillion was wiped off global markets with the decision. Britain's pound sterling suffered the biggest blow.
India's market highlights 24% rise from last year
The Indian domestic equity market saw the larger stocks such as MRF, Eicher Motors, Shree Cement and Bosch snag gains of about 24% on a year-to-date basis.
How did the Asian stocks fare?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 14%, its biggest rise over the last four years. Japan's index reflected a 0.7% drop on a stronger yen, while the nation's currency slipped 15%, but market analysts estimate the value to rise 3%. The Chinese yuan slumped against the US dollar, while Thailand's market rose 20% and Indonesia soared 16%.
Global tumult sees investors seeking safer havens
"2016 has been a year of changes and these changes have hardly been slight. A preference for safe haven assets to tide through the year-end have set in, with gold and yen taking off," said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.
