10:15am  ~  It’s the last day of my Cornwall holiday so back home tomorrow and a resumption of ‘normal’ trading.

Looking back over the last week, European markets have struggled to advance in tandem to the U.S. Indices, with the geopolitical problems in Ukraine and Gaza weighing heavily on trader’s minds.  Half-hearted EU economic reaction against Russia have so far made no difference to Putin’s stance with regard to colonisation of neighbouring countries so there is talk of “Tier 3″ sanctions being put into place as quickly as this week if member states can put aside their own interests (ie: The French continuing to sell arms to Russia) and this will no doubt put pressure on equities.  The German Dax 30 has once again come down to the 9600 support level with little to encourage investor confidence unless employment and PMI numbers come in better than expected later this week.  In London, the FTSE 100 index stalled slightly on Friday at the previous resistance of 6830 after a week of modest gains and is slightly down this morning.

Over in the U.S. the Dow Jones 30 index had a negative week after failing to rise above the 17,130 resistance level but has now formed a support at 16,900 where it is sitting this morning in the futures market.  The wider S&P 500 index had a slightly better week and did manage another new record high on Thursday although it too has slipped back slightly.  The weekly chart has given us a reversal candle plus good support at 1950 so watch out for moves down towards that level.

Gold continues its recent decline amidst falling demand from its biggest market in Asia although geopolitical tensions should have supported the price better than it has in recent weeks – the chart seems to suggest a further move down towards $1290.