Financial News Headlines

China on Thursday welcomed the consensus reached in the night by Europeans around a plan to end the crisis for the euro area and expressed his support for the measures announced.

After more than ten hours of the summit, the leaders of the euro area have come in the night from Wednesday to Thursday to reach an agreement on the restructuring of the Greek debt, capacity building fund to support the euro and the recapitalization of banks.

"We hope that this consensus (…) is conducive to boosting market confidence," said the spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs during a press conference."China supports the measures taken by the EU to stem the debt crisis."

"China is willing to make joint efforts to safeguard the recovery and growth of the global economy," said the spokesman, noting, without giving details, that Beijing was ready to increase its cooperation with the EU investment, trade and finance.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon by telephone with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy.They will discuss in particular the next G20 summit scheduled for early November in Cannes.

Nicolas Sarkozy had announced last night that China could participate in the creation of a "special vehicle" to multiply the firepower of the European Financial Stability (EFSF), the bailout funds in the euro area.

The NYSE has closed lower Tuesday due to disappointing company results and tried not bode well for the health of the U.S. economy, while the uncertainty surrounding the euro zone has amplified the trend.

The Dow Jones finished down 1.74% or 207.00 points to 11,706.62, while the S & P 500 ended on a down 2.0%, or 25.14 points, to 1229.05.

The Nasdaq composite, for his part yielded 2.26% (61.02 points) to 2,638.42.

The meeting of finance ministers from the euro area scheduled for Wednesday was canceled, but the leaders of the European Union still plan to meet the same day summit, as expected.

"Everyone thought that with the meeting and the summit, the European problem was more or less settled, but the announcement of the cancellation has created a very negative feeling about the chances of a resolution in the short term," commented Steven Neimeth of SunAmerica Asset Management.

On the corporate side, the diverse group was disappointed by 3M reported results below expectations in the third quarter and lowering its forecast throughout the year.

The title sold 6.25% to 77.04 dollars.

The UPS Logistics Group has meanwhile declined by 2.14% to 69.35 dollars after the Director General indicated that predict the U.S. economy continue to grow slowly.UPS, however, reported an increase in profits.

Netflix suffered a spectacular fall from 34.9% to 77.37 dollars after announcing a loss of subscribers higher than expected.

Denmark became the first Saturday in the world to introduce a tax on fat. It is 2.15 euros per kilogram of saturated fats. Denmark became the first Saturday in October the first country to introduce a tax on fat.

Denmark became the first country to introduce a tax on fats, the first Saturday in October, after a week in which to save money consumers have supplies of butter, pizza, meat or milk. The new tax, intended as a measure to fight against the consumption of fat, provides 16 kroner (2.15 euros) per kilogram of saturated fats.It will apply to all products containing saturated fats, including pre-cooked dishes.

"I doubt this will have a positive impact on health, it's just a tax" Extra, told AFP a spokesman for the Confederation of Danish Industries (DI), Gitte Hestehave. "As far as we know, Denmark is the first country to introduce a tax on fat," she said. In the week before the entry into force of this tax, the Danes have robbed the stores.

The Danes were full of fats

"We had to stock tons of butter and margarine to be able to serve our customers," he told AFP an official with the group Arla Dairy Distribution, Soeren Joergensen. "The week was rather chaotic, with lots of empty shelves.People filled their freezers, "confirmed an official of an independent supermarket in Copenhagen, Christian Jensen." Actually, I do not think this will change anything: people who want to buy a cake will buy it. Simply by doing now they are saving, "he added.

For DI, the new tax is an "administrative nightmare". The products are imported or Danish manufacturing, it will ask for statements to producers on the amount of saturated fat in the product but also used in its preparation. Updating of computer systems has also required many hours of overtime for producers and retailers. All this has a cost that will be passed on to consumers, warned Ms. Hestehave.

Moreover, lawyers point out that the tax induces a risk to the competitiveness of Danish products.The imported products subject to tax only the fat they contain are actually cheaper than the Danish products also taxed at the producer level of fat used in making "such as for frying," said the lawyer in Jeppe Rosenmejer Jyllands-Posten.

The number of Americans entering the unemployment fell to a low of five months last week, and growth figures for the second quarter were revised upward, leaving the markets expect a recession is ultimately not to fear.

The number of jobless rose to 391,000 last week, against 428,000 the one before, said Thursday the Labor Department. This figure is well above expectations, as economists on average had forecast 420,000 jobless.

The Labor Department noted, however, that its adjustments for seasonal variations may have overstated the decline in enrollment.Revised data will be published next Thursday with the first estimate figures this week.

Commerce has meanwhile announced that growth in gross domestic product (GDP) reached 1.3% in the second quarter, according to final figures.

Its previous estimate was counting on only 1.0% growth.So a return to the first estimate, which already provided 1.3% before being downgraded.

Analysts had expected an upward revision, but not as pronounced, with a final figure of 1.2%.

Consumer spending and the trade figures have finally proved better than expected.

GDP figures "suggest that the U.S. economy entered the third quarter in a position a little better.These encouraging news is reinforced by the decline more marked than expected jobless claims, which casts further doubt on the likelihood of a return to recession, "said Joe Manimbo, an analyst at Travelex Global Payments in Washington.

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM

Political tensions between the United States the Democratic administration and the Republican side, a majority in the House of Representatives, coupled with the impact of the debt crisis in Europe, have eroded confidence and fears of a return of U.S. U.S. recession.

The cautious optimism of economists now expects a further contraction of GDP will be avoided.Production companies continue to grow because, although at a slower pace since the beginning of the recovery.

In detail, the revised figures show, in fact more of a slower growing economy as a future recession.

Export growth is better than initially estimated at 3.6% instead of 3.1%.That of imports, however, is lower at 1.4% against 1.9%.

The trade deficit is lower, and foreign trade contributed to GDP by 0.24 percentage point.

These data support Wall Street, which evolved up to 1600 GMT, while the dollar went further against the yen and the price of Treasuries retreated.

U.S. debt is regarded as a safe investment and attractive in times of uncertainty, but less coveted when the economy recovers.

All indicators are not provided to green the U.S., and the gloom is still required from contractors, according to a study by the Institute "Business Roundtable" and published on Thursday.

According to the report, the outlook for business had deteriorated for the third quarter, and the number of those planning to cut jobs over the next six months more than doubled, from 11% in the second quarter to 24%.

They are more than 65% against 87% three months ago, to provide an increase in sales and only 32% instead of 61% plan to increase their investments.

Greek debt is out of control and the measures taken by the government can not restore the finances, says a committee of independent experts in a report released Wednesday.

"The sharp rise in debt, the high primary deficit (…) exacerbated in the extreme dynamics of the debt, which has spun out of control," say the auditors of the Greek Parliament, appointed by the Ministry finance.

"It is clear that the problem in this country is not only the volume of public debt, but also the inability to consolidate the current fiscal management. Despite the massive fiscal adjustment effort, no primary surplus was clear and, on the contrary, the primary deficit has widened. "

The Spanish economy has slowed in second quarter, rekindling fears of a relapse into recession if the country's economy, much worse, in the eurozone were to deteriorate.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in Spain rose 0.2% in the second quarter, as announced in the first estimate, following 0.4% (revised up) in the first quarter, according to figures released Friday by the National Institute of Statistics.

GDP growth stood at 0.7% per year, as markets awaited, and after 0.9% in the first quarter.

The government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero expects growth of 1.3% per year for 2011, but the consensus of economists appears rather around 0.8%, suggesting that Spain could face more difficulties than expected in the pursuing its objectives of reducing the deficit.

The bursting of the housing bubble and a prolonged liquidity crisis weighed heavily since 2008 on the construction industry, long a pillar of the Spanish growth, but exports and strong domestic consumption have so far allowed the country avoid falling back into recession.

While the unemployment rate approaches 21% and that disposable income declines, some economists, consumption relatively strong in the second quarter could indicate that households are cutting back on their savings.

"Again, this probably reflects the fact that households draw on their savings or save less, and this is obviously not a long term solution," said Ben May, economist at Capital Economics.

"Overall we continue to believe that Spain will at best grow very low on the next two quarters, and it could fall into recession," he adds.

Secretary of State for the Economy José Manuel Campa also said that the goal of a 1.3% growth in 2011 was possible but it could be threatened if the economic slowdown abroad.

"It is possible, but it will be difficult due to external factors," he said.

The cumulative deficit now stands at over-year about 65 billion euros. View of the Port of Marseille

The trade deficit of France fell in June after months of peaks at 5.59 billion euros against 6.41 billion in May, seasonally adjusted data, the Customs said Friday. He, however, dug in the first half, reaching 37.5 billion euros, after 27.6 billion in the second half of 2010, suffering both from the higher import bill for energy and industrial decline in the deficit.

In June, the improvement is due to a "significant decline in imports," including energy products, while at the same time exports remained broadly stable, said the Ministry of Finance on its website.The trade deficit had peaked in April and May, to 6.8 and 6.4 billion euros (revised). The cumulative deficit now stands at over-year about 65 billion euros (up from 52.2 billion for the year 2010).

In June, industrial exports declined slightly pnt: sales growth aeronautical and pharmaceutical does not make quite the folds of those of intermediate goods, automotive, and mechanical and electrical equipment. Imports of energy products (natural hydrocarbons and refined products) decreased, in turn, almost 500 million euros. The decline is similar for transport equipment, due to lower aircraft acquisitions, said Bercy.

European shares ended Friday's session down sharply, recording their worst weekly performance since March, after the announcement of a U.S. growth lower than expected, confirming fears of a market downturn United States.

The benchmark index of the Paris ended down 1.07% at 3672.77 points, according to preliminary closing level, computing the final level being delayed by a technical problem that disrupted the market for 3:30 p.m. at 5:08 p.m..During the meeting, the CAC 40 fell to its lowest level since December 1 at 3630.75 points (-2.2%) just after the U.S. GDP.

For the week, the temporary loss of the CAC 40 was 4.42%.

Among the largest declines including the title Veolia Environnement losing 9.5% after announcing the implementation of further restructuring and a redeployment of its activities and asset sales, which led him to abandon its goals.

The losses, however, were limited by the speech given by reassuring thought Barack Obama for an agreement is reached on raising the U.S. debt.

Other major European markets also ended down: the FTSE 100 in London ended down by 0.99% and the Dax in Frankfurt at 0.44%.

The Milan Stock Exchange lost 0.67% and 0.27% in Madrid.

Of the European indices, the FTSEurofirst 300 yielded 0.65%.

The German chancellor is sure that there will be an agreement Thursday for a new aid package to Greece. The cnacelière Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was "very confident" in "good results" at the top of the euro area on Thursday and expects to find in advance a common position Wednesday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said his spokesman. "France and Germany (…) must agree. If this does not happen we can not make progress in Europe. On both sides, we are confident that a common position can be released tonight "said the spokesman, Steffen Seibert, during a press conference. "The Chancellor will visit Brussels tomorrow.We are very confident to see it found a good solution that makes a difference, "he added.

Countries in the euro area are in a race against time to find an agreement to help Greece and contain the debt crisis, a decisive meeting with Sarkozy-Merkel later in the day Wednesday in Berlin , in advance of a summit of leaders of the euro zone on Thursday. Wednesday's meeting will be "a working session," said Mr. Seibert, who, as recent days, refused to detail the German positions on the modalities of a new aid to Greece on the brink of bankruptcy. One thing is certain, Berlin is always to involve private creditors of Greece in the assembly.

This remains "a critical requirement" and "highly important" for Germany, said Seibert."And we're not the only ones with this position," added the spokesman of the Ministry of Finance, Martin Kotthaus. The Netherlands or Finland support Germany in this voie.Toutefois neither Mr. nor Mr. Seibert Kotthaus have repeated the need to involve "substantial" private sector, one of the requirements laid down in originally from Berlin. "We expect the private sector," simply stated M. Kotthaus, and this so that "we will be satisfied." The involvement of banks, insurers and fund holders of debt securities Greek is a strong requirement of German MPs, who posed as a condition for approval of new aid in Athens.

These days even in the ranks of the coalition government to end the desire dominates, the need to radically and the growing irritation of the face of procrastination Merkel.Wednesday the head of the state government of Hesse, Volker Bouffier, from the ranks of the conservative party CDU Chancellor, called for "clear decisions," and called for a default part of Greece.

A plan for raising the ceiling of U.S. debt and to avoid a default of immediate payment of the United States could still result in a rating downgrade of the United States within a year or so, said Tuesday Moody's.

The "plan B" Senator Mitch McConnell, considered more as a "plan A" in Washington, seeks to prevent a lowering of immediate note of the United States, said Moody's analyst, Steeven Hess Reuters Dabner an interview.

"But the figures being discussed in terms of a possible deficit emerging from this plan does not seem very important," said Steven Hess."As a result, this plan could lead to a negative outlook on the note."

The United States are rated triple A by all three major agencies, the maximum score.