Market Review By TraderXP:
German stocks fell after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S.Bernanke said they plan to buy $ 45 billion a month Treasury securitieswill not compensate for the financial rocks, as lawmakers continue to discuss the new budget.
Index DAX (DAX) slid into the close of trading in Frankfurt, its biggest drop in a month. Sensor still rallied 27 percent from its low on June 5 as the European Central Bank policy makers agreed on unlimited bond buying program and the Federal Reserve announced a third round of quantitative easing.
Market News
S & P 500 ends the six-day winning streak on "cliff" alarm
S & P 500 ended its six-day winning streak on Thursday, retreating as worries intensified that Washington "financial cliff" Negotiations are drawn with little progress.
Anxiety about the protracted negotiations between Democrats and Republicans was enough to compensate for the encouraging data on retail sales and unemployment on Thursday.
The fear is that higher taxes and spending cuts to begin in 2013, when an agreement is reached in Washington will hurt growth. The stock market has heated rhetoric quiet lately, but the gloomy comments from Republican House Speaker John Boehner has prompted some selling on Thursday.
Boehner accused President Barack Obama of "slow walking" of the economy from the financial cliff. He will meet with Obama later on Thursday.
"There is no conviction and comments here Boehner - as harsh as they were - to be realistic," said Jason Weisberg, managing director of Seaport Securities Corp. in New York.
"The fiscal cliff already built in, as they say, people do not like to be told the apocalypse is coming again and again, and again. The real players in this market have already closed their books. "
After close to 1 per cent decline for the day, S & P 500 compared to losses at the end of the session. Index were posted six straight sessions of gains through the close on Wednesday, and in the OnePoint Wednesday, S & P touched its highest intraday level since Oct. 22.
While the announcement of the Federal Reserve on Wednesday a new round of economic stimulus consolidated shares, comments Ben Bernanke that monetary policy will not be enough to overcome the effects of the financial weight of the rock onsentiment.
Shares of Apple, up 1.7 percent at $ 529.69, was one of the biggest drags on the Nasdaq on Thursday session, while International Business Machines, by 0.5 percent to $ 191.99, and was one of the largest scale on the Dow. U.S. jury found that Apple's iPhone violated three patents belonging Ideas MobileMedia.
Among the largest growth of the day, Best Buy Co shares soared by 15.9 percent to $ 14.12 after reports that the founder of the company is expected to offer to buy consumer electronics retailer in the week.
Index Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.73 points, or 0.56 percent, to 13,170.72 at the close. 500 Index Standard & Poor fell 9.03 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,419.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 21.65 points, or 0.72 percent, to end at 2,992.16.
The energy and information technology were S & P 500 weakest performers, with the S & P energy index by 0.9 percent.
In the energy sector, shares NaborsIndustries Ltd fell 4.7 percent to $ 13.85 after Jefferies cut the rating drilling company. Shares of U.S. oil company Phillips 66 lost 1.6 percent to $ 52.21.
Economic data on the following day sent some positive signals for the economy, with the weekly claims for unemployment benefits decreased to almost the lowest level since February 2008, and an increase in retail sales in November after falling in October thepicture improvement in consumer spending.
In Europe, EU finance ministers agreed that the European Central Bank top manager of the banking unit, which can increase the confidence in the ability of EU leaders to confront the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone.
After the bell, shares of Adobe Systems Inc rose 5.8 percent to $ 37.60 after the manufacturer of Photoshop and Acrobat software posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit. Shares ended the regular session at $ 35.53, up 1.2 percent.
Volume was about 6.16 billion sharestraded on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, compared to the year before the date of closing of the average daily volume of 6.52 billion.
Decliners outnumbered theNYSE advanced to a ratio of about 7 to 3, and on Nasdaq, more than five stocks fell for every three that rose. Reuters.com
Currencies
Yen slips to nine months low expected BOJ easing
The yen fell to a nine-month low as expectations grew onFriday that the Bank of Japan will step up its money printing to stimulate the third largest economy in the world after key elections in the country this weekend.
Japanese media reported that the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is set to a stunning victory on Sunday, further cementing speculation that the leader of the LDP's Shinzo Abe will be in a strong position to achieve a softening of monetary bold.
"The market is growing confidence the next government will be one of the most aggressive easing of what you might think," said a trader at a Japanese bank.
"Those who had hoped to buy the dollar / yen for possible failures after the Fed meeting are now buying the dollar after the dollar did not fall much," he added.
The dollar bought 83.71 yen, rising higher than 83.95, the level not seen since March, and within sight of the March peak of 84.187.
The euro also rose to an eight-month high 109.63 yen, and was on his way to the end of the week nearly 3 percent higher in the yen.
Bank of Japan's Tankan survey also showed Japanese business sentiment deteriorated as expected, strengthening expectations that the central bank will take fresh steps to weaken its policy meeting on Wednesday and Thursday.
"We expect more yen weakness in 2013 ... In the end, the yen to weaken, because the economy needs help so bad," said Kit Juckes, strategist at Societe Generale in London.
However, the option flows associated put the brakes on the slide, the yen at the moment, especially at about 84 yen per dollar andsome market players think the position unwinding ahead of the holiday season may come after the key events of the next week.
"Given the high expectations, it's hard to believe that the Bank of Japan will come up with surprises. BOJ is buying shares, only the central bank that does things," said Ayako Sera, a market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
Currently all expectations mitigate the Bank of Japan have created a "little festival, but the market may be for a hangover after that," she added.
The dollar found a sustainable footing against a basket of major currencies after the initial bout selling triggered when the Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced fresh bond purchase plan next year.
The dollar index was little changed at79.885, survived the fall to one-week low of 79.711.
Disappointment at the talks "financial cliff" of the U.S. dollar makes a little haven elevator as negotiations toavert steep tax increases and spending cuts between the Republicans, Congress and the White House hit the wall.
The euro reached $ 1.3089, nearly flat on the day, after he discovered that he was going strictly above $ 1.3100. Even the news that the governments of the European countries have won landmark deal on Banking Supervision approved a welcome aid to Greece could not give much of a single currency a boost.
The Australian dollar also fell back to $ 1.0531, from a three-month high of $ 1.0585 set earlier in the week, although a slight improvement in early reading in December manufacturingactivity HSBC China helped underpin Aussie.
The Australian dollar was also supported by foreign central banks. Russian First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev, was quoted as saying on Thursday that the central bank has increased the share of the Australian dollar in their foreign exchange reserves to 1.5 percent.
The British pound was off six weeks of high hit on Wednesday after Standard & Poor's cut its outlook for British government debt to negative, putting the country's triple-A rating under threat.
This was little changed on the day at $ 1.6118, but was below the high on Wednesday of $ 1.6173. Reuters.com
