U.S. equity markets continued their forward march. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones closing at 0.72% up to 11,755 points in early trade. For its part, the Nasdaq gained 0.76% to 2737 points while the S & P advance of 0.90% to 1286 points. Tuesday, Wall Street was also closed in the green. This is the highest level recorded by the New York Stock Exchange since August 2008.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro goes up the slope against the dollar. He crossed the $ 1.30 increase in the dollar to 1.3131 at the close of U.S. markets.
On the macroeconomic front, investors were waiting in New York specifically to the conclusions of the Fed's Beige Book. These were more optimistic than previous ones.The Fed remains cautious on employment and real estate, notes, however, signs of renewed growth since late 2010.
Moreover, the positive outcome of the bond of Portugal, which has already drawn up European markets, helped to maintain the indices in green throughout the session. "For once, Europe has led us in the right direction, which had not happened lately," noted Volokhine Gregori, of Meeschaert New York."Everybody gets carried away by seeing the news from Europe are good", also confirmed Mace Blicksilver of Marblehead Asset Management.
"The upward trend started earlier this year and stopped by concerns for issues of debt in Europe, took over, supported by the publication of the Beige Book," observed Volokhine Gregori.
Also on the macroeconomic front, import prices showed a net gain in a year in the United States in December, due to the continuation of soaring energy prices. According to figures released Wednesday by the Ministry of Labour, they rose 1.1% while economists had forecast a rise of 1.2%.
Finally, the budget deficit fell in December to $ 80 billion, or 12% lower than December 2009, monthly figures show the Treasury on public accounts.The decline is consistent with the median forecast of analysts.
Chevron profits up to
The side of values, after award, the American oil company Chevron (+0.69% to 92.46 dollars) has indicated that it expected higher profits in the fourth quarter of 2010 than in the third, thanks to higher crude oil prices and an assignment. Chevron reported net earnings of $ 3.8 billion for the third quarter 2010 quarter ended Sept. 30, down 1.6% year on year, reflecting a negative currency impact.
Also in the oil sector, the National Commission to investigate the causes of the explosion of the oil rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 urged the creation of an independent agency responsible for security offshore operations.The Commission report provides a roadmap for Congress to initiate multi-sector reforms. It will be presented to committee in the House and Senate from 26 January.
For its part, the banking sector has responded positively to the latest report from the American Bankers Association (ABA), which suggests that the default rates on consumer loans rose slightly in the third quarter. Sector values are in the green image of JP Morgan earns 2.57%, Morgan Stanley is 2.68% and Goldman Sachs ahead of 1.30%.
The automotive sector also remains in the spotlight, while the show continues manufacturers in Detroit.The new boss of General Motors (-0.39% to 38.60 dollars) Dan Akerson announced that his group plans to produce this year about 25,000 Chevrolet Volt, its new hybrid vehicle electric motor.
AIG is selling its subsidiary in Taiwan
In the insurance industry, AIG (-1.12% to 58.38 dollars) said it had received an offer from Ruentex group for the redemption of its insurance business in Taiwan (Nan Shan Life Insurance) for $ 2 , $ 15 billion.
The CEO of Sanofi-Aventis said he did not know how far he would go in its discussions on the purchase of Genzyme. For its part, the U.S. Biotechnology company Genzyme (stable at 72.34 dollars) ruled that discussions with Sanofi-Aventis had made progress, but that they remained technical in nature. Genzyme has revised downward its outlook for 2011.
In the coming days, the dance of results continues on Wall Street. Among the heavyweights of the coast, Intel will announce its results tomorrow, and JP Morgan Chase Friday.