STOCKS AROUND THE WORLD THIS WEEK

MEXICO: After rallying for a week, Mexico's Bolsa index resumed its descent this week, putting the index down 8.3 per cent so far this year. Heavyweight America Movil SAB didn't help the situation; nor did Telefonos de Mexico SAB. But WalMart de Mexico was up on the week.

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BRAZIL: Brazil's Bovespa stock index had been the best performing index this year among the 20 biggest markets in the world, that is, until June rolled around. It is no longer. The index has now lost 22.6 per cent since its late May peak, weighed down by sliding commodity prices and concerns about inflation and interest rates, especially after the central bank surprised the market by raising the benchmark SELIC interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 13 per cent.

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SWITZERLAND: A number of European markets actually gained ground this week. The Swiss Market index, which includes 20 of the biggest and most actively traded stocks in that market, advanced 2.75 per cent, even though the financials including UBS AG and Swiss Reinsurance took a hit yesterday. The financials had been recovering earlier in the week.

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VIETNAM: You know conditions in a stock market are bad - really bad - when a decline of 11.1 per cent only ranks as the biggest weekly decline in four months. One has to go back to the week ended March 21 to find a larger drop. In that case, it was 15.2 per cent. This latest round of selling was prompted by the government boosting the price of gasoline by 31 per cent and kerosene by 44 per cent.

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TAIWAN: The Taiwanese market was one of the best performing markets over the week, with the Taiex index climbing more than 6 per cent. With global oil prices falling, investors saw reason to return to this market and others to do some bargain hunting. Relief that the U.S. government unveiled a rescue package for troubled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also spurred buying.