In this study we apply recent advances in time-series analysis to examine the intertemporal relation between stock indices and exchange rates for a sample of eight advanced economies. An error correction model (ECM) of the two variables is employed to simultaneously estimate the short-run and long-run dynamics of the variables. The ECM results reveal significant short-run and long-run feedback relations between the two financial markets. Specifically, the results show that an increase in aggregate domestic stock price has a negative short-run effect on domestic currency value. In the long run, however, increases in stock prices have a positive effect on domestic currency value. On the other hand, currency depreciation has a negative short-run and long-run effect on the stock market.

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Objective To assess the ability of noninvasive tests of fetal wellbeing to predict hypoxic morbidity independent of fetal size. Design A prospectively planned, longitudinal, observational study. Setting Fetal Surveillance Unit, King's College Hospital, London. Subjects One hundred and ninety‐one pregnant women with singleton pregnancies who were delivered after 32 weeks' gestation who were seen in the Fetal Surveillance Unit within seven days of delivery. Interventions Fetal surveillance by fetal abdominal circumference, heart rate variability (mean range), biophysical profile score and umbilical artery pulsatility index measurements. Main outcome measures Birthweight was classified as < or ≤2.5th centile (AGA or SGA) for gestational age and sex. Morbidity was defined as at least one of the following at birth: delivery by emergency caesarean section for fetal distress, umbilical venous blood pH less than 7.15, 5 min Apgar score less than 7 or admission to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU). Results Fetal abdominal circumference was the best indicator of which fetuses (n = 30) would be SGA. Fourteen of the 30 (47%) SGA fetuses had morbidity at birth and abnormal umbilical Doppler studies significantly predicted this (χ2= 2.93, P= 0.003). By contrast, fetal heart rate variability and the biophysical profile score did not. Twenty‐seven of the 161 (17%) AGA fetuses had morbidity at birth, but this was not significantly predicted by heart rate variability, biophysical profile score or umbilical Doppler studies. Conclusions None of the antenatal testing techniques studied predicted morbidity in normally grown fetuses but Doppler studies indicated whether a small fetus was ‘sick small’ or ‘normal small’.

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This report describes the early prenatal diagnosis of the Pena Shokeir phenotype in an at-risk patient at 14 weeks' gestation. The diagnosis was based on an abnormal fetal movement profile, in association with an abnormal position of the fetal limbs. Pena Shokeir phenotype describes an inherited condition characterized by arthrogryposis and dysmorphic features as a result of fetal akinesia. It is a lethal abnormality and early diagnosis allows safer surgical methods of termination.