Mixed. Between the good results released Tuesday by Intel and announcements pessimistic Fed, the U.S. markets have been slow to find the right direction. They finally finished in extremis in the green. A green very hesitant. The Dow Jones gained 0.04%, Nasdaq 0.35% advance in 2250. In contrast, the S & P 500 was down 0.02% to 1095 points.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro remains above 1.27 dollars to 10:40 p.m. at 1.2738 dollars (0.14%). The dollar seems to lose some of its appeal as a safe haven. The encouraging start to the season half results in the United States seems to restore investor confidence and encourages risk taking. The European currency was on his side with the success of the issuance of treasury bills Greeks.The operation, with a rate of 4.65%, the first since May, when the euro zone and the IMF have provided loans of 110 billion euros over three years, has aroused demand of over 4.5 billion euros, well above the 1.25 billion that the country wanted to raise.
Retail sales disappoint, the Fed resolutely pessimistic
To many observers, the Fed was going to share in the minutes of its monetary policy meeting, the revised growth forecasts downwards. It is clear that they were right. The U.S. central bank now expects growth of between 3% and 3.5%, against a range from 3.2% to 3.7% three months ago. The finding is similar to unemployment. Consequently, the Fed is considering new measures of monetary policy to support the U.S. economy.
Side indicators on Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported a 0.5% drop in retail sales in the U.S. last month, after declining 1.1% in May according to a revised estimate. Economists and analysts polled by Reuters were predicting a decline of 0.2%. Compared to June 2009, sales were up 4.8%. This statistic is added to a series of numbers considered disappointing, especially in real estate and industry, and suggests that the recovery ran out of steam a bit faster than expected.
Intel Features
On the side of values, the salvo of quarterly results continues on Wall Street. The microprocessor giant Intel on Tuesday said the "best quarter in its history, with net income of $ 2.9 billion, better than expected, and a turnover exceeding its forecasts and also market expectations.Intel shares gain 1.67% to 21.36 dollars.
Always on the side of values, the U.S. group Northrop Grumman defense (3.13% to 56.99 U.S. dollars) has also announced Tuesday after the close of Wall Street of its intention to separate from all its shipyards, it would close one on the Gulf of Mexico within three years.