EURO falls on inconclusive Greek talks

The Euro/USD is falling 50 points to 1.2757 after Euro finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) failed to reach agreement on a Greek bail-out package. While the EU seems to have been willing to extend with two years  the deadline for carrying through austerity measures,  IMF  was sticking to 2020. Without a consensus emergency aid cannot be disbursed to Greece.
 The inconclusive talks  helped destroy the positive investor’s sentiment which have been built up over the last days. The Head of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke also talked US stock markets down when he yesterday stated that the Federal Reserve could do nothing to soften the “fiscal cliff”.   Dow Jones fell within minutes more than 100 points upon Bernanke’s statement. He added, however, that 2013 might be a bright year for markets  if Congress is able to find a compromise between budget cuts and tax hikes. Both Dow Jones and Nasdaq recovered and ended the session flat.
 Hewlett Packard, one of the bedrock companies of Silicon Valley, and  for decades seen as synonymous with technical excellence and innovation, stunned markets with an alleged massive accounting scandal at its British software unit,  Autonomy.  Serious accounting improprieties came to light after a whistleblower come forward after the ouster of one of the companies top executives. HP shares plunged with 12 percent and reached a 10-year low. The market value of HP has fallen from $ 155 billion  in 2000 to $ 20 billion after yesterday’s “massacre”.
 Oil prices fell yesterday afternoon  on strong rumors on a truce between Israel and Hamas on Gaza. Expectations for a ceasefire, rose, however, when US secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, arrived to Jerusalem  last night to seek an end to one week of fighting.   Brent crude trades at 110,03. Gold prices also fell yesterday trading at 1723 down from Tuesday’s peak on 1735. Asian stocks fell for the second day in row on the  disappointing news of a failed emergency aid pay out to Greece. The Japanese Nikkei-index is up 0,44 %  on a weaker Yen.  USD/JPY trades at 81,905




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