Wall Street awaited the green
The index futures are predicting a slightly higher opening of U.S. markets. Shortly before the opening of Wall Street, futures on indices Standard & Poor's 500 and 10.8501961,50 points.
The U.S. markets have ended on a stable note Friday. The Dow Jones gained 0.08% to 10850, 36 and the Nasdaq 100 0.18% to 1952.63. The values of consumer durables and clothing and basic materials have gained ground. Conversely, those software and services and facilities and health services have been abused.
For U.S. investors await today in early afternoon revenues and expenditures of households for the month of February.
But the main highlight of the week on the macroeconomic level is expected Friday with the release of monthly statistics of unemployment in the United States.But U.S. markets will be closed as usual April 2 for the Friday that precedes Easter. Investors can therefore respond to the employment figures as the following week. They should focus their attention until the "Leading indicators of employment 'perception of the labor market by households, with the Conference Board survey from Tuesday, then the number of ADP private practice Wednesday. According to the makers of "Aurel BGC, the consensus of economists expect a sharp rebound in job creation."But, "this movement is partly technical, related to the reintegration of people who temporarily lost their jobs because of weather conditions in February …" add the specialists Aurel BGC.
Other key indicators of the week will be Tuesday house prices and an estimate of consumer confidence, Wednesday the index of activity in the Chicago area and the numbers of orders in February. Thursday last week's meeting, the market will focus on the ISM index of manufacturing activity and construction spending in March.
On the currency markets, the euro continued to recover against the greenback after the announcement last Thursday of an agreement between the countries of the eurozone to help Greece with the participation of the IMF.The euro was trading above $ 1.34 in the morning.
The values listed, Chinese, Geely signed Sunday an agreement with Ford on the acquisition of Volvo cars. The sale had been expected for several weeks, the Geely group wishing to build a Volvo plant in Beijing for its domestic market. Ford said the transaction was $ 1.8 billion and would be finalized during the third quarter.By selling Volvo, bought 6.45 billion dollars in 1999, and Ford sells the latest brand of upscale pole he had wanted to be and which also included Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover.
According to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Verizon Communications, the second mobile operator in the United States, is in talks to merge with Vodafone.
Companies are also starting to communicate on the cost of health reform. AT & T announced a provision of 1 billion, Caterpillar announced a 100 million dollars and Deere & Co, an extraordinary expense of 150 million. The impact of this legislation on corporate performance is difficult to estimate the short term. The new law eliminates many tax deductions that companies used to reduce health costs for retirees.