Market Outlook August 15th-19th

Market Outlook
- WALL STREET:
US indices extended their losses last week. On the economic data front, advance retail sales rose 0.5% in July while US trade deficit widened 4.4% to $53.1 billion in June. The Federal Reserve also decided last week to keep interest rates "exceptionally low" until the mid-2013 as "downside risks to the economic outlook have increased". Looking at corporate earnings, Berkshire Hathaway posted 2Q net income up 74% YoY to $3.42B. Most sectors ended in negative territory, with banks (-7.61%) and diversified financials (-6.99%) posting the weakest performance, while insurance, media, software, telecom, energy and retail food fell by more than 2%. Materials and consumer services both gained 0.23%. From a technical view, the S&P500 index reached its key support at 1100 after successive decline, and should post a technical rebound to 1220 before any further downsides.

- EUROPE:
...