Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Equity markets posted gains early in the week, before falling victim to deepening recession fears from the Federal Reserve.
Minutes from the April FOMC meeting revealed a debate among policymakers regarding the expansion of the current Treasury purchase program following a contraction estimate of 1.35 percent to 2.00 percent deepening recession fears and paring gains in equity markets around the world.
US markets suffered minor losses at week’s end on recession fears, though fading investor confidence could not curtail early week gains.
The Dow closed at 8,422.04, gaining 137 points or 1.6 percent above last week’s 8,284.89, while the NASDAQ gained 63 points above last week’s 1,664.19 to 1,727.84, a 3.8 percent weekly gain.
Asian markets fell at the end of the week on US Federal Reserve projections and outlook as well as gains in the Yen (JPY). The Nikkei closed at 9,264.15, gaining 170 points (1.9 percent) this week.
The BSE Sensex gained 15.76% this week to 13,787.07 on the back of a landslide election victory by the Congress Party.
The DSE General Index rose 46 points (1.8 percent) to close out the week at 2,506.89.
BBN/SS/SI/AD-22May09-3:51 pm (BST)