SP500 spent last week in downtrend. There was no traditional growth in advance of Thanksgiving Day and Christmas sales.
Earlier last week the market was under the pressure of the eurozone crisis including Moody's pessimistic forecast for the credit rating of France. The US authorities also failed to improve the financial situation in the country. As a result, the index made a major technical breakout last week and continued its downtrend.
US retailers showed poor results even despite the hopes laid on the “Black Friday” – the day following Thanksgiving Day in the US, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.
That affected the following stocks: Amazon (AMZN $182.40, -$6.59) lost 3,5%. Home Depot (HD $36.47, -$0.05) and Lowe's (LOW $22.68, +$0.20) exceeded the expectations, Best Buy (BBY $25.63, -$0.08) declined to the red zone.
According to the Department of Portfolio Investments of , the US is currently showing faint signs of economic recovery. The major threats keep coming from Europe. If the ECB turns aggressive and efficient in its efforts to combat the eurozone crisis, that may support US and EU stock indexes. It is recommended to start purchases from $1120, $1150 on positive signs indicating the end of the downward retracement.
