On Monday the US trading was carried out within narrow ranges, furthermore the strong decline in American Express quotes dragged down the Dow Jones Industrial Average index. At the end of the trading day the DJIA decreased by 13.78 points, or by 0.12%, to 11478.13 points. The Nasdaq Composite rose by 6.59 points, or by 0.25%, to 2649.56 points. The Standard & Poor’s 500 grew by 3.17 points, or 0.25%, to 1247.08. According to investors, the market was affected by the opposing forces. On one hand, the positive economic signals are presented. However, they are leveled by the municipal bonds, situation in Europe and Korea. The concerns over the debt crisis in Europe and weekend tension over South Korea’s artillery drill moved to background during the session. During the most part of trading the stock indices were slightly increasing and declining, nevertheless, the Dow closed down. This drop was caused by the plunge in American Express shares that lost $1.51, or 3.4%, to $42.50. The company became more exposed after last week the Federal Reserve System proposed an offer regarding the interbank commissions on debit cards. Last week the stock of Visa and MasterCard descended following the FRS proposal. Nevertheless, the investors started to worry only on Monday about these measures for American Express. The stocks of other financial companies gained on Monday. J.P. Morgan Chase quotes rose by 28 cents, or by 0.7%, to $39.95, and Bank of America securities edged up 5 cents, or 0.4%, to $12.62.
3M stocks also shown the strong dynamics, having ascended by 97 cents, or 1.1%, to $87.34 after the company announced that it is discussing with its chief executive George Buckley the question about the successor.
Boeing quotes edged lower $1.76, or 2.7%, to $63.27 following the statement of chief executive of Qatar Airways that the company could cancel the orders for 787 Dreamliner if there are further delays of delivery. AT&T shares fell by 8 cents, or by 0.3%, to $29.13. The company said it will pay $1.93 million for spectrum licenses from Qualcomm as AT&T is trying to strengthen its positions in 4G service. Qualcomm plans to curtail the provision of mobile video services. The shares of the company shed 2 cents to $49.44. These days the market moves in an uptrend. For a week the DJIA rose by 0.7%, for third week in a row. Over a year the index increased by more than 10%. The investors, inspired by the recent US macroeconomic data, expect that the advance will last till the end of the year. However, the volume of trading will probably remain low this week because of the holidays, which can intensify the market fluctuations.
