Stock indexes on Wall Street edged higher Wednesday while European markets struggled to overcome persistent concerns about a global slowdown. þþAsian shares finished lower. þþWith little in the way of economic news for guidance, equity traders have been searching for direction. þþShares in the United States had struggled to make headway Tuesday, and while they broke a five-day losing streak, buyers evaporated in the afternoon in what has become a familiar pattern over the past two months. þþRick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management, said the failure to hold gains in the last session was a worry for investors as the market attempted to find a bottom. Signs that growth in the United States was slowing has hit equity markets in recent weeks. þþOn Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, reported that its index tracking service-oriented companies dipped to 53.8 in June, from 55.4 in May. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. þþ“Whether we’re facing a double-dip recession or whether this is just the slowing that results from the withdrawal of some government stimulation, things have certainly slowed down, and worries about that have spread into the market,” he said. þþIn early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was 69.03 points or 0.71 percent higher. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 0.9 percent, and the technology heavy Nasdaq rose 0.97 percent. þþIn what could be an early taste of the earnings season, the discount retail chain Family Dollar Stores posted higher quarterly profit as customers sought cheaper products in the face of high unemployment, but it forecast fourth-quarter earnings below expectations. þþThe euro eased to $1.2581 in morning trading in New York, after settling at $1.2620 on Tuesday. þþEquity trading in Europe was choppy as details began to trickle out on stress tests for banks. Financial shares pared their initial losses on optimism that results from impending stress tests may not be as bad as feared. þþThe FTSE 100 in London was 6.58 points or 0.14 percent lower in afternoon trading. The DAX in Frankfurt and the CAC-40 in Paris were flat. þþIn addition to the stress tests, the European Parliament on Wednesday approved one of the world’s strictest crackdowns on exorbitant bank pay, going beyond some of the limits that many banks were pressed to adopt in the wake of the financial crisis. þþBankers in the 27-nation bloc will be barred from taking home more than 30 percent of their bonus in cash starting next year, and risk losing some of the remainder if the bank’s performance erodes over the next three years. Banks that do not curb the salaries of their biggest earners will have to set aside more capital to make up for the risk. þþIn the United States, the Treasury secretary Timothy F. Geithner sounded a positive note Tuesday, saying he was confident the economy would continue to grow as it recovered from the financial crisis. But he added that recoveries were “never even, never steady.” þþEuro zone economic growth in the first three months of 2010 was confirmed Wednesday at 0.2 percent quarter-over-quarter, but any stronger expansion in the second quarter could be short-lived. þþIn Frankfurt, the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, also offered some positive comments. Mr. Trichet said that Greece’s budget consolidation program was realistic and represented a good basis for recovery. þþ“Looking ahead, the economic and financial program decided by the Greek government ... represents a solid basis for a more positive outlook,” Mr. Trichet said in a letter to Ioannis Tsoukalas, a member of the European Parliament. þþAsian markets slid, as Japan’s Nikkei average closed down 0.6 percent þ
Source: NY Times
