Questa notizia e le sue conseguenze sono molto importanti.
Fino a qualche giorno fa segnali di rallentamento erano ben visti dal mercato in quanto riducevano il rischio di rialzi dei tassi e segnalavano la moderazione della crescita.
Ora il calo della fiducia dei consumatori più forte del previsto pone timori più seri sul lato crescita e comincia a mettere in dubbio la possibilità di una discesa moderata dell'attività economica.
Ad esso è associata la discesa del petrolio che oltre che penalizzare i titoli petroliferi, ricordiamo i titoli che hanno in lunga parte sostenuto gli indici stanno scendendo con la discesa del petrolio che si sta avvicinando a resistenze importanti e quindi pone timori per ulteriori discese segnale di un calo della domanda (e probabilmente anche di un calo speculativo).
Tuesday August 29, 10:51 PM
Stocks slip on fall in consumer confidence
By Jennifer Coogan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday after data showed consumer confidence fell this month by more than analysts had forecast, while heavily-weighted energy stocks slumped on a drop in oil prices.
Mortgage lenders traded sharply lower after First Horizon National Corp. , a large southeast regional bank, said mortgage banking weakness and settlement of a lawsuit should reduce third-quarter pretax earnings by $56 million.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped to a nine-month low of 99.6 in August from 107 in July, well below economists' median forecast for a fall to 103.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 24.81 points, or 0.22 percent, at 11,327.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 3.67 points, or 0.28 percent, at 1,298.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 10.39 points, or 0.48 percent, at 2,150.31.
"A bigger drop than expected there (in the confidence index). There had been a high inverse correlation between gas prices and confidence, so I think this is much more geopolitical uncertainty," said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management in Boston.
"But no one has been able to prove to me this has any impact on people spending because confidence goes up and down but spending keeps going on," he added.
Crude oil futures dropped $1.11 to $69.50 per barrel, hurting some energy shares. Exxon Mobil Corp. , Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips were the top three drags on the S&P 500.
Exxon shares fell 1.2 percent to $69.27, Chevron stock lost 1.2 percent to $65.40 and ConocoPhillips fell 1.4 percent to $64.81, all on the NYSE.
First Horizon shares were down 3.5 percent to $38.65, while No. 1 U.S. mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. dropped 2.8 percent to $32.65 on the NYSE.
Minutes from the August 8 meeting of the Fed's Open Market Committee, when policy-makers voted to pause in a two-year-long series of rate increases, will be released at 2 p.m. EDT, which should give the market some guidance on the likely future direction of U.S. interest rates.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher is scheduled to speak at 1 p.m. EDT.
(Additional reporting by Chris Sanders)
