The Eurogroup made some progress on the Spanish bank deal lifting up the stock markets in developed countries, but the summer rally seems to have ended; the flurry of data from China suggesting no hard landing with GDP growth at 7.6% and slowing inflation, did however help Asian markets recover from their losing streak. Regional markets were mostly down, though the Qatar government’s Sukuk sale led to a positive impact. The euro was at its weakest level in two years, while the yen continued to rise against the greenback for a third consecutive week. The end of the strike at Norwegian Statoil pushed down the oil price, but it crossed the $100 mark on fresh Iran sanctions; gold prices gained on Fri erasing losses suffered earlier in the week.
