Dubai Weighs on the Indices, The Dollar Remains at Low Levels

Volatility jumped higher at the end of the week, after state owed Dubai world requested to postpone its debt paybacks. Once the news hit headlines Wednesday evening, it immediately caused panic, as the amount of global lenders who are expected to be affected by the situation is still not known. Dubai world is a government owned holding company that is at the center of Dubai's thrust to diversify its economy into property, leisure and investment, both locally and globally. The news hit the equity markets hard having an immediate impact on the Dollar and the Yen. Both the currencies soared as investors rushed into safe-haven, exiting riskier assets, such as equities.

The S&P 500 index lost 19 points on Friday and finished the week settling at 1091.5, unchanged for the week. The week started on a bright spot and seemed to be heading for a positive week which would have created solid returns for the month of November. Market participants were greeted with positive news on Monday after the Euro-zone showed improving data. The markets remained firm on Tuesday and Wednesday as traders absorbed a plethora of economic data. On Wednesday the US Commerce Department released better than expected housing data. New-home sales unexpectedly climbed in October despite bad weather and uncertainty over a big tax credit for first-time buyers. Sales of single-family homes increased 6.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000. Economists surveyed estimated a 1.0% drop to a 398,000 annual rate.

Jobless Claims also had an impact on the trading week as the numbers showed that initial claims for unemployment benefits declined by 35,000 to 466,000 in the week ended Nov. 21. It was the lowest claims figure since September 2008. The four-week moving average of new claims, which aims to smooth volatility in the data, also fell, by 16,500 to 496,500.

Over in Europe, business and consumer confidence in the 16 countries that use the euro continued to improve in November, while capacity use in the manufacturing sector rose for the first time since the onset of the financial crisis. A monthly survey by the European Commission showed Friday that the overall Economic Sentiment Indicator, or ESI, for the euro zone rose sharply to 88.8 from 86.1 in October. The increase in the ESI was stronger than expected, with economists surveyed last week having forecast it would increase to 88.1. It was the eighth straight month in which sentiment improved.

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