Breaking Wall Street Market News & Reports

Ahead of the opening bell, DJIA futures fell 57, to 10,379. S&P futures fell 6.90, or 0.6 percent, to 1,096.60. Stock futures slipped Tuesday to start the holiday-shortened week after some fresh concerns about the health of European banks rattled overseas markets.  European markets fell after a report said the continent’s major banks have more potentially risky government debt on their books than was disclosed during stress tests earlier this year. The dollar strengthened against the euro and investors bought U.S. Treasurys on the new European bank concerns.

Stocks worldwide dropped during the spring because of worries that mounting government debt in Europe would hurt banks’ ability to lend and stunt an economic recovery on the continent. That, in turn, would drag down a global rebound. Investors could be taking their cues from overseas because there are few domestic economic reports due out this week that could sway traders. A barrage of mostly better-than-anticipated economic data sent stocks sharply higher last week. The reports helped push major indexes to their first winning week in a month.

The health of the U.S. economy has largely dictated trading since early August. Traders looking for new signs of the pace of recovery will get a look at regional economic activity when the Federal Reserve releases its beige book Wednesday. The Labor Department releases its weekly numbers on unemployment benefit claims Thursday.

Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.8 percent, Germany’s DAX index dropped 0.7 percent, and France’s CAC-40 fell 1.2 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.8 percent. With investors worldwide moving out of stocks, U.S. bond prices climbed. That sent interest rates lower.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.64 percent from 2.71 percent late Friday. Its yield is often used as a gauge to set interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans. U.S. shares of many European banks fell in pre-opening trading. Share of Swiss bank UBS AG dropped 49 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $17.56. Spanish bank Banco Santander SA fell 36 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $12.32.

US News

In a Renewed effort to restart economy Obama has proposed  to call on Congress to pass new tax breaks that would allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their new capital investments through 2011, the latest in a series of proposals the White House is rolling out in hopes of showing action on the economy ahead of the November elections.  An administration official said the tax breaks would save businesses $200 billion over two years, allowing companies to have more cash on hand. The president will outline the proposal during a speech on the economy in Cleveland Wednesday.

President Barack Obama will call on Congress to pass new tax breaks that would allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their new capital investments through 2011, the latest in a series of proposals the White House is rolling out in hopes of showing action on the economy ahead of the November elections.  An administration official said the tax breaks would save businesses $200 billion over two years, allowing companies to have more cash on hand. The president will outline the proposal during a speech on the economy in Cleveland Wednesday.

Obama has promised to propose new steps to stimulate the economy. In addition to the business investment tax breaks, he will also call for a $50 billion infrastructure investment and a permanent expansion of research and development tax credits for companies.

The proposals would requires congressional approval, which is highly uncertain given Washington’s partisan atmosphere. With the public worried about adding to the mounting federal deficits, and Republicans saying spending is out of control, even many Democratic lawmakers are reluctant to approve new spending so close to the midterm elections.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 5:30 am and is filed under Contributors, Economics, Stock Market News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.