In contrast, the Nasdaq was up, driven by the specialist Qualcomm semiconductors.

Statistic of jobless claims was an auspicious omen for the employment figures on Friday. The weekly jobless claims fell in the United States during the week to January 28, at 367,000 against 379,000 (revised) the previous week.

Economists expect 150,000 new jobs in January from 200,000 in December, with an unemployment rate that would not move to 8.5%.

Investors have not reacted more, it seems, the intervention of the President of the Federal Reserve before a parliamentary committee. Ben Bernanke said that the European financial crisis continued to threaten the U.S. recovery and the Federal Reserve will do whatever it takes to prevent it penalizes world's largest economy.

The Dow Jones lost 11.05 points (0.09%) to 12,705.41. The S & P 500 gained 1.45 points (0.11%) to 1325.54. The Nasdaq Composite Index is 11.41 points (0.4%) to 2859.68.

The technology continued to outperform the market. Qualcomm has registered its highest level in 12 years after the quarterly that easily beat the consensus. The stock has gained 1.96% to 60.73 dollars.

The values ​​of health have instead included in the red after quarterly results released by the pharmacist Merck (-0.49%), the insurer Cigna (-3.39%) and Medical equipment manufacturer Boston Scientific (-4.1%). The sector index lost 0.41%.

Merck said on Thursday quarterly results better than expected, thanks to lower spending on research, while providing a profit in 2012 more or less stable compared to 2011, in anticipation of the arrival of its lead drug generic, anti-asthmatic Singular.

The food group Sara Lee and Kellogg have also mounted after the announcement by both companies to better than expected quarterly results and confirmation of their annual forecasts in spite of significant changes in progress.

Kellogg took 2.6% and 4.36% Sara Lee.

These sales were up 16.4% over the same period a year earlier to 52.4 billion (39.25 billion euros), according to data released Sunday by the National Federation of the distribution ( NRF).

A total of 226 million people traveled between Thursday and Sunday in stores or on online sales sites.This is also an unprecedented level, compared with 212 million last year.

Among the big winners of the weekend appears Best Buy, one of the stores that opened its doors at midnight on the night of Thanksgiving.

Most European stock markets ended the week in the red, worried Berlin's refusal to use the European Central Bank (ECB) to reduce fears about fragile states. Paris has lost 0.4%, from under 3000 points, Frankfurt (-0.8%) and London (-1.11%) also won. Madrid and Milan have instead ended in the green (0.5% and 0.2% respectively). In the line of sight of the markets, the refusal to Berlin to call for the ECB to contain the crisis.Political pressures are becoming more numerous and demanding that the central bank relaxed its position to let him play the role of lender of last resort against Europe's most indebted. And put an end to soaring interest rates on debt. The spread between Germany and Spain has exceeded 500 basis points Friday. "As the savior of Italy but also in other countries precarious, there is that the ECB," said analyst Robert Halver Germany, Baader Bank, adding that "it is the only one who can fight against nuclear explosion in the euro area. "

Germany and the ECB opposed to an intervention

Germany, the only country ruled by the strong market is the focus of all eyes. Chancellor Angela Merkel refuses steadfastly calls to relax the policy of the ECB.

Of the 150 member lower house of parliament of the Netherlands, 96 spoke in favor of the proposal.

Now, only Malta and Slovakia have not yet given the green light.

All the parliaments of the Member States of the euro area will have to give before the expansion of EFSF to take effect.

The indices, however, reduced their losses late in the session after a senior Greek officials had to Finance said that Greece was close to an agreement with the "troika" for the payment of the next tranche of aid.

The Dow Jones lost 108.08 points (0.94%) to 11,401.01. The S & P-500 yielded 11.92 points (0.98%) to 1204.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 9.48 points (0.36%) to 2612.83.

The values ​​of energy and finance led the movement.The S & P Energy lost 1.46% in the wake of oil, and that of the Financial 2.74%, following a further sharp fall in European banking.

Investors are disappointed with the overall conclusions of the Ecofin meeting / Eurogroup held at the end of last week in Poland.

"We were not only overbought but we also had 'hoped-on", says Karl Mills (Jurik, Mills & Keifer Investment Partners)."It was hoped that the visit (the U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy) Geithner in Europe would provide greater clarity but nothing positive has come out and you return to the problems of Europe".

Internally, President Barack Obama proposed Monday a plan to reduce the budget deficit of 3,000 billion over the next ten years, half would come from new tax levied on the richest Americans and corporations.

The Republicans criticize the plan, which raises many doubts about its adoption and implementation.

Values, UBS shares listed on Wall Street has lost 3.11%.The Swiss bank opened an internal investigation into the failure of its risk control system and its leaders are under pressure after a loss of $ 2.3 billion (1.67 billion euros) due to unauthorized transactions of a dishonest trader.

However, Tyco International gained 2.40% after announcing its division into three independent companies listed. Investors welcome this news because each company can take power in their competition to apply for.

Swiss bank UBS, which said Thursday he was the victim of fraud by one of its brokers who lost $ 2 billion, will "massively" reduce its investment banking and to make major layoffs, said the Helvetic Press Friday.

A reduction in size of the bank, often cited by analysts, should be announced Nov. 17 at the UBS Investor Day, said the daily Tages-Anzeiger, which is based on internal sources of bank.This will result in the reduction of "thousands" of jobs in the division, said the newspaper, which is also expected that the Chief Oswald Grübel and the head of the banking Carsten Kengeter have to resign soon .

The Swiss press has reacted strongly in the wake of revelations of the first bank Helvetic, who announced Thursday he was the victim of fraudulent activities of one of its traders, which caused him to lose $ 2 billion (1.4 billion euros) . While the bank had to release third quarter earnings of between 900 million and 1.1 billion Swiss francs, analysts said it could now suffer a loss of 500 million, the first since the third quarter of 2009.

"You have to ask, how is it possible, despite recommendations stricter domestic (…), to lose such sums out of control," questioned the daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). For the newspaper, the case threatens the reputation of the entire Swiss financial center, which represents more than 10% of gross domestic product Helvetic. A Swiss Exchange, the rebounded Friday morning as UBS. After closing Thursday down more than 10%, the action gained 2.67% to 10.01 Swiss francs in a market up 0.60%.

Degradation by Moody's credit ratings of two of the largest French banks came to illustrate the growing risks to the European financial sector of a deepening crisis.In particular, Moody's said the one notch downgrade of the rating on Societe Generale and Credit Agricole by exposure to the Greek debt.

President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel were to meet with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in the late afternoon.

No official communication is provided at the end of the conference, which takes two days to an informal meeting of EU finance ministers, in Wroclaw, Poland, with the participation of exceptionally U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Meanwhile, France and Germany have reiterated their opposition to the issuance of Eurobonds.

In Paris, the budget minister Valérie Pécresse reiterated the position of France, that these bonds could only be "the culmination of a process of consolidation in the euro area" and a convergence of fiscal policies, and not a starting point.

In Berlin, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance said that Germany was always hostile to it waiting to see what the European Commission will propose.

The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said in the morning before the European Parliament that the EC will soon propose options for the introduction of euro bonds. It would, at this stage that a technical document that lists the available options and nothing says that member states of the EU finally choose to embark on this path.

THE BRICS also consider ASSISTANCE

José Manuel Barroso warned, however, that in case of issue of eurobonds would not provide an immediate solution to the problems of Europe.And the Commissioner of Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn was wanted by recalling that a prudent option amounting to euro bonds was proposed in May 2010 for countries sharing the single currency, which had rejected.

However, these comments supported the euro, which hit a high of 1.3742 to dollar days before returning to around 1.3690 in mid-afternoon.

Sign of the nervousness of investors, European equity markets that had erased their losses after the initial declaration of the President of the EC, significantly reduced their earnings to 16.30, traders citing a possible postponement of the vote in the second rescue plan by the Greek the Austrian Parliament, scheduled Sept. 21 but retoqué in committee.

Bank stocks, the volatility remains high, were all divided down in Paris in the afternoon.Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole signed the three largest declines in the CAC 40 index.

Hopes also came Wednesday from major emerging countries gathered in the club of the Brics, which should decide on the opportunity to help the euro area at their meeting in Washington Sept. 22, according to an official of the Indian Ministry of Finance.

The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have begun preliminary discussions to increase their holdings of bonds denominated in euro, had already indicated to Reuters on Tuesday an official of the Brazilian government.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the World Economic Forum in Dalian, nevertheless said China would invest more in Europe but the Europeans were on their side to avoid an extension of the debt crisis. An adviser to the Chinese central bank, Li Dakui, subsequently said that China should refrain from buying large volumes of European bonds, adding that it was important for European countries to continue their reforms.

The adoption of the austerity plan seems to Italy. The government of Silvio Berlusconi has won the confidence of the House of Deputies, the last step before the vote, in the evening, this package of measures designed to bring the country out of the crisis.

The Constitution will be amended through a law to be adopted before June 30, 2012, the government said in a statement released in the early hours of Friday.

Both sides agreed to secure 0.4% of GDP limit of the overall deficit of the country, that is to say state and regions included.

The law will also include criteria for a gradual reduction of debt pursuant to the Pact of Stability and Growth in the euro area.

The two sides signed the agreement will review the deficit ceiling in 2015 and 2018.

This follows a call to that effect made by France and Germany to countries threatened by the debt crisis in the euro area.

Spain has already announced Tuesday that it would enshrine in the Constitution a public debt ceiling before the legislative elections in November.

Delta launched last year a tender for the supply of up to 200 aircraft to replace its oldest aircraft. The airline announced this year it was in talks with Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS, Embraer and Bombardier and Boeing.

"The 737-900ER aircraft is perfect to replace those that are the oldest and least efficient of our single-aisle fleet," said in a statement from Delta CEO Ed Bastian.

The Boeing 737-900ER is the latest addition to the family of next-generation 737.

The rating agency Moody's has lowered a notch to Wednesday's Aa3 rating for long-term debt of Japan, because of the massive debt the country, aggravated by the earthquake of March 11, against a background of instability policy that blocks long-term strategies. This sanction will force the contenders for prime minister to introduce measures of fiscal discipline, analysts welcome.

"The ratings downgrade is driven by large fiscal deficits and the accumulation of Japan's public debt since the global recession of 2009," Moody's said in a statement.And the agency added that "several factors make it difficult for Japan to reduce the proportion of debt vis-à-vis the GDP, thus lowering his score." However, Moody's has no plans for more time to downgrade the archipelago, saying that he has the chance to enjoy the Japanese investors' preference for domestic bonds.

Banks also degraded

The rating agency Moody's said Wednesday it lowered a notch in the middle note of the long-term debt of major Japanese banks, after having degraded earlier note of Japan indebted.In particular, Moody's revised its negative assessment of Mizuho Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, due to the downgrade of Japan and subsequent fears that the country has in the future less capacity to support the banking sector in the event of another financial crisis.

The heavier debt burden

Japan is in debt to the tune of about twice its gross domestic product (GDP) and the burden grows each year through the issuance of Treasury bills returned to fill much lower expenses, particularly since the international economic crisis of 2008 – 2009. This is the first time a major rating agency lowers rating of Japan since the disaster of March 11 coupled with a nuclear power plant in Fukushima.However, Moody's had warned in late May of this risk.

The new Aa3 rating assigned to Japan is the fourth best on the scale to 19 notches by Moody's, which means it is still regarded as an issuer of debt of high quality. The rival Moody's, Standard and Poor's and Fitch, which are currently quite similar ruling on Japan, however, warned in April and May that they could also lower the rating of the country soon.

"The earthquake of March has undermined Japan's recovery from the global recession of 2009 and economic growth prospects are low, making it more difficult for the government to achieve the goals of deficit reduction and to launch a major reforming the tax system and social benefits ", explained Moody's.Japan is currently in recession, even if slowly industrial activity tends to recover its previous pace, and if consumer confidence was somewhat restored.

Political instability weighs on the outlook for recovery

While Japan is preparing to nominate next week's sixth prime minister in five years, Moody's also cited political instability as one of the reasons obèrent decisions for the long term. "Over the past five years, frequent changes in leadership have prevented the government from implementing economic and fiscal strategies that can be effective and sustainable," she said.As a result, the prospects for progressive restoration of fiscal balance are constantly deferred and, despite promises to cut spending, "the annual budget deficit is still as it inevitably leads to an increase in the debt ratio reported the wealth produced. "

This warning shot of Moody's comes as the tenors of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ, center left) compete for the succession of the Chief Executive, Naoto Kan, which should leave office early next week. "The downgrade is unfortunate," responded the current Prime Minister of Japan, Naoto Kan. The Minister of Finance candidate to replace Mr Kan, has meanwhile refused to comment directly on the decision of Moody's, but he defended Japanese bonds."I will not shares of a private agency, but the problem without offering treasury bills from Japanese investors show confidence in them remains intact," pleaded Yoshihiko Noda.

Degradation of the note was not very noticeable effect on the yen against the dollar, the ticket remains fairly stable over 76.50 yen. However, it has been dropped from 1.07% the Nikkei index of blue chips on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, due to the significant decline in shares of Japanese banks that Moody's has also block minus ratings. According to brokers, listings of Moody's does not constitute a big surprise to investors and the financial consequences of Tokyo will probably be limited.The decision of the agency will however increase the pressure on the next Japanese government that put its finances through higher taxes, analysts said.