US TUMBLES & other news from EUROPE

Stocks trimmed losses by the close Thursday, but remained deep in the red, with techs falling after cautious outlooks from Qualcomm and Motorola. Ongoing worries about the labour market also gave investors a reason to retreat. Stock declines were broad based, with 24 of 30 Dow components falling. Weaker-than-expected economic readings on durable goods orders
and unemployment were also in play, overshadowing President Obama's push for jobs. Ford Motor's first annual profit in 4 years and other positive profit news were mostly ignored. Later in the day, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was confirmed for a second term after heavy lobbying by Democrats and the Obama administration. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.1% (-
115.7 pts, close 10,120.5). The Nasdaq lost 1.9% (-42.4 pts, close 2,179.0) and the S&P 500 lost 1.2% (-13.0 pts, close 1,084.5). U.S. light crude oil for February delivery fell 23 cents to settle at US$73.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (CNNmoney)
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Orders for capital goods rose in December, and more Americans than anticipated filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, indicating business investment is making a comeback while the job market stagnates. Bookings for durable goods excluding transportation equipment climbed 0.9% last month, exceeding the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Commerce Department showed yesterday in Washington. Orders for durable goods excluding transportation equipment were projected to rise 0.5%, according to the survey median. Forecasts ranged from a 0.5% decline to a 3.1% increase. Total orders increased 0.3%, less than anticipated and suppressed by an unexpected 38% plunge in demand for civilian aircraft. Initial jobless applications fell to 470,000 in the week ended Jan. 23 from 478,000 the
prior week, the Labour Department said. Initial jobless claims were forecast to decline to 450,000 from a previously reported 482,000 the week before, according to the median estimate of 42 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Estimates ranged from 400,000 to 480,000. (Bloomberg)
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Ben S. Bernanke won Senate approval for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman, as supporters who credited his actions to stem the financial crisis and recession overcame opponents saying he failed to prevent them. The Senate voted 70 to 30 to confirm the 56-year-old former Princeton University professor, the narrowest margin since the chamber started
confirming Fed chiefs in 1978. Opponents said Bernanke failed to head off the worst financial crisis since the Great Depressionand then put taxpayer money at risk by participating in rescues of firms including American International Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. Supporters, including some who criticized his record on bank supervision, credited Bernanke with averting a
deeper recession by slashing interest rates and pumping US$1trn into the economy. (Bloomberg)
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German unemployment rose for the first time in seven months as a weakening economic recovery and the coldest January in 23 years forced companies to cut jobs. The number of people out of work this month climbed a seasonally adjusted 6,000 to 3.43m, the first increase since June, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labour Agency said yesterday. Economists
forecast an increase of 15,000, according to the median of 28 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The jobless rate rose to 8.2% from 8.1%. Rising joblessness in Germany underscores the stumbling rally in Europe’s biggest economy after it emerged from recession in 2Q09. While the export outlook is improving, investor and consumer confidence declined in January, and the
recovery remains “fragile,” Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said Wednesday. January is set to be the coldest recorded since 1987, disrupting construction and transport, the German Weather Service said. Canals all over Germany have been frozen, interrupting shipments of steel, coal and grain. (Bloomberg)
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European confidence in the economic outlook improved for a 10th month in January as reviving global demand helped stoke exports and bolstered earnings across the 16-nation euro region. An index of executive and consumer sentiment increased to 95.7 from a revised 94.1 in December, the European Commission in Brussels said yesterday. Economists expected confidence to rise to 92.3 from a previously reported December reading of 91.3, the median of 29 forecasts in a
Bloomberg News survey showed. Signalling a revival in production, capacity utilization rose for a second quarter, yesterday’s report showed. The index, compiled every three months, increased to 72.4 from 71. The euro region may grow 1% this year, the International Monetary Fund said on Jan. 26. (Bloomberg)