The Dow Jones Industrial 30 yielded 0.26%, or 33.45 points, to 12,598.55. The S & P-500, wider, lost 5.86 points, or 0.44%, to 1324.80. The Nasdaq Composite fell on its side of 19.72 points (-0.68%) to 2,874.04.

Although Germany has tried to calm things down on Greece, saying she wanted to stabilize the country in the eurozone, the European Central Bank (ECB) has renewed concerns in said to have ceased to provide liquidity to certain Greek banks due to their under-capitalization.

The Greek authorities have in turn reported massive withdrawals made by the citizens of their bank accounts because of economic and political uncertainties. 

The questions about the future of Greece and possible implications for the euro area a country's output of the Economic and Monetary Union weighed on equity markets in recent weeks, with an S & P 500 has lost some 5.5% since late March.

The fact that, according to the minutes of its last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, the Federal Reserve remains open to new measures to support the economy has little impact on sentiment of market participants.

These have not benefited from more macroeconomic indicators rather positive, with one hand a higher-than-expected housing starts in April and the other , a stronger than expected rebound in industrial production. 

As for values, General Electric took 3.268% to 19.00 dollars after the division of financial conglomerate has received permission to resume the transfer of part of its profits to its parent.

GE Capital provides and to pay a special dividend of $ 4.5 billion in General Electric during the year.

The title J.C. Penney has plunged 19.72% to 26.75 dollars, its biggest daily drop in percentage terms since 1987, a day after the distributor has suspended payment of a dividend and announced results showing that its transformation implementation has more impact than expected on its activity.

Also in the distribution sector, the title has pros Target 0.44% to 55.32 dollars after the group specialized in low-cost stores raised its annual forecast .

Facebook will increase by almost a quarter the size of its IPO and could now raise up to $ 16 billion (12.6 billion euros), the strong investor demand obscuring the dice ; beats on long-term profitability of the social network.

According to data from the Observatory CSA-Credit Housing, real estate loan production fell by 26.1% during the first quarter, with a dip of 35% on the month of January 2012 . Between early January and late March, the fall is larger, down 30.8%.

"The improvement observed in autumn 2011, aftermath of demand expectations of late 2011, was not enough to reverse the recessive market and weighed heavily on the month of January 2012, "note the analysts of the Observatory in its quarterly survey released Thursday.

"The market downturn has become a true reality," they continue.

The quarterly results of French banks, released Thursday and Friday, continues the trend. In recent years, rising real estate loans had helped to swell the volume of lending to the economy, especially during the financial crisis after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

"During the crisis period in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the housing credit has been a growth engine for retail banking in France," said Christophe Nijdam, an analyst at AlphaValue . "It was the engine and it was welcome, because of other activities such as retail banking abroad, were very, trè s disappointing. "

"But this year, instead of having a GNP (net banking, Ed) with growth rates of 3% to 5%, we could have a no-growth or GNP is decreasing "he says.

IMPACT ON THE MARGINS

Societe Generale said Thursday that net profit down 20% in the first quarter, has reported a decline of 26.2% of production mortgages in France between January and March.

Crédit Agricole d'Ile de France, which also released its results, the housing loans fell by 16.6% during the first quarter. 

For its part, BNP Paribas speaks of "a continued deceleration of home loans", without giving precise figures for the production of home loans in France.

The rating agency Standard & Poor's expects a contraction of about 20% to 30% of the flow of new loans in France this year. It also anticipates a decline of 15% of property prices in 2012 and 2013.

"French banks should not be significantly affected by the decline in house prices that we anticipate in our economic forecasts," said S & P.

The agency said the contraction of the flow of new credit this year "could weigh on banks' interest margin, although this negative volume effect would be partly offset by increased levels of these new credits. "

Official figures on gross domestic product (GDP) of the Spanish first quarter of 2012 will not be published before April 30. The Minister of Economy, Luis de Guindos, however, said that the Spanish economy should be in the first quarter contraction similar to the last quarter of 2011, which was 0.3 % over the third quarter.

Two successive quarters of declining GDP correspond to the technical definition of recession, which was widely anticipated in Spain.

According to the minister, who gave an interview to El Mundo, the decline will however not as serious as feared.

"If you had asked me this question two months ago, I would have thought the first quarter of 2012 would have been much worse than the last quarter of last year. But this does not happen, "said Luis de Guindos

" For now, I see a first quarter like the last quarter of last year. "

These words fall in line with other recent statements by government members, suggesting Spain is in recession again

. The rightwing government of Mariano Rajoy has committed to undertake significant budget cuts. But, the markets, there is concern growing that the recession makes it impossible to goals of deficits and that Spain should seek international assistance in one form or another, to ; like Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Yields of Spanish debt to ten years have passed Monday morning above 6% for the first time since the beginning of the year, while the Spanish CDS reached new records.

CRISIS MODE

"We returned a crisis mode," said Lyn Graham Taylor, a specialist rates to Rabobank. "It seems increasingly likely that Spain would have to resort to some form of rescue. If there is no intervention (ECB), there will be no ceiling to Spanish yields . They will just keep climbing. "

The Spanish economy is in contraction or stagnation since the bursting of the real estate to ; re in 2008. While housing prices are still falling, the survival of some banks and the new government's ability to control its finances are subject to debate.

The Popular Party (PP), which won elections in November against the Socialists in place, has taken a number of measures to reduce the deficit Spanish, one of the highest the euro area.

But confidence in the ability of President Mariano Rajoy of the Government to work within budgetary limits of the euro area was tested when the head Government has unilaterally lowered the deficit target in 2012 beginning in March, which was strongly up the risk premium on Spanish debt. 

The Minister of Economy also said that the government would take further measures to help small and medium enterprises solvent to obtain credit from banks.

Moreover, the government could get involved in finances too spendthrift regions as early as May, said on Monday with the government.

If Spain has largely missed its target deficit for 2011 is largely due to the expense of regions. The 17 Spanish autonomous regions must reduce its public deficit to 1.5% of GDP in 2012, against 2.9% last year.

A law is being voted in parliament to give the central government the power to punish regions that did not comply with the objectives of deficit narrowed.

The remuneration of top managers in the U.S. rose 1.4% in 2011 against an increase of 11% in 2010, according to partial results of a study released Monday by the Wall Street Journal. "Despite a sizeable increase in earnings and business income, earnings of 65 bosses in office for at least two years rose by only 1.4%" in 2011, says the U.S. daily.

The Wall Street Journal explains the stagnation in the bond of increasingly close relationship between compensation and employers' business performance, because of the "monitoring" of shareholders and the "pressure" the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC ). The SEC, the U.S. federal agency to regulate financial markets, calls for "more details" on how companies pay their executives, which complicates the payment of bonuses by adjusting in-year objectives, explains daily.

The partial study, conducted by management consulting firm Hay Group, based at the moment of 75 U.S. companies, whose net income grew 17% in 2011. The full study, which involves 300 companies, will be published "later this spring," announces the Wall Street Journal. According to preliminary results, the median earnings of bosses is 9.4 million in 2011, against $ 9.3 million according to comprehensive study of 2010.

The remuneration of the boss of Apple, Tim Cook, is estimated at $ 378 million in 2011. That of the boss of media group Viacom, Philippe Dauman, who dominated the rankings in 2010 with a salary estimated at $ 84.3 million, is 42 million in 2011.

The world's number one steel explained his decision by the depressed construction market in Western Europe, which are for products Schifflange, and said he could see no sign of significant improvement since the crisis that hit the area at the end of 2008.

Schifflange site specializes in the production of long carbon steel.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced earlier this month that ArcelorMittal would restart a blast furnace of its French site Florange (Moselle). But the group had then stated that it would be restarted in case of economic recovery.

The deficit of state budget has decreased by 0.9 billion euros in January over one year to 12.5 billion euros, thanks to the windfall of allocating 4G mobile frequencies, said Friday the Budget Ministry. The state expenditure were however up to 31 January from a year earlier, but this progression, "consistent with the prediction," is due to "an increase in the rate of recognition" earlier this year, ensures Bercy in a statement.

Expenses (general budget and levies on revenue) reached the end of January € 32.8 billion against 26.3 billion the same date of 2011, the departments' management in 2012 to start faster. " According to the ministry, "the expenditure has not been late and has already reached its cruising speed", and so do not see a skid. As for revenue (net of refunds and rebates), they improve to 23.4 billion against 20.5 billion at January 31, 2011. The net tax revenues are up as expected from one year to another, almost 8%, particularly with regard to corporation tax (33.6%).

After three sessions of declines, the Nikkei index is back above the 9,700 point mark, gaining 192.90 points to 9,768.96 and the Topix broader, took 13.45 Points (1.63%) to 836.16.

The trend was also supported by a Wall Street Journal suggesting that the Fed is considering a new approach to bond buybacks.

Values, the technology has benefited from a presentation by Apple's new version of its iPad tablet.

Toshiba took 1.77% and 4.1% Electronics Renesas.

CGT plant at ArcelorMittal Gandrange (Moselle) presented Friday a draft EAF, which the union could "save" the site where a mill still operates steel supplied from Germany. "We offer ArcelorMittal to invest 120 million euros in the construction of an electric furnace to supply the local mill," said Jacky Mascelli to reporters, one of the leaders of the CGT at the factory Grandrange. "To produce the steel that we now come to Duisburg (Germany), we propose to use the scrap produced in the region, notably by the automotive industry," he said.  

For the CGT, the factory "integrated" (steelmaking-continuous casting-rolling) "will guarantee the sustainability of the site Gandrange" which still employ about 350 steelworkers, against more than 1,000 before the closure of the steelworks in March 2009 . The project presented Friday by the CGT looks like that the union had presented in March 2008 and which already provided for the construction of an electric oven "scrap all" to enhance the mill crowns and bars Gandhinagar, one of the only active for long products in Europe. The draft will now be "carried" by the Left Front, several representatives were present Friday in Lorraine.

Since its closure, the steelworks Grandrange is regularly pointed to by the left as one of the failures of the quinquennium of Nicolas Sarkozy. February 4, 2008, following his marriage to Carla Bruni and after a highly publicized visit to the factory Moselle, the president pledged to support the state "all or part of investment required "to keep the mill operating.

The group's operating margin, which reached 20.2% in 2011, also expected to suffer during the year and down 19%.

"In 2012, faced with uncertain macroeconomic expectations, Legrand holds a target organic growth of its turnover close to zero," the group said in a statement.

In 2011 Legrand has posted organic growth rose 6.4%, slightly more than 5% contained in its annual targets.

If noted the current difficult environment in 2012, the infrastructure specialist electrical and digital nevertheless reaffirmed its medium-term objectives. 

Out major economic slowdown and taking into account acquisitions, Legrand targets an average annual growth of 10% of its turnover and adjusted operating margin averaged 20%.

In 2011, net income of Legrand rose 14.4% to 478.6 million and adjusted operating profit of 7.5% to 856.7 million (+7.5 %).

Legrand has also said he would propose a dividend in 2011 of 0.93 euro per share, up 6%.

Sales of specialist technology consulting totaled 1,419.5 million euros last year, growing "economy" of 8.1% (on a comparable basis excluding the impact of exchange and changes in working days).

This publication dope title to the Paris Bourse, where the action is gaining 4.18% to 3.96 euros, shoulder to shoulder with Plastic Omnium top of the largest increases in the SBF 120 (+ 0.35%). 

"We are convinced and seduced by the strategy and decisions implemented by the new management group," says a note in CM-CIC Securities, the purchase value.

"Certainly, the current should not favor the rapid improvement of the fundamentals of Altran, but we believe that the work done by the new CEO of the group should begin to bear fruit in 2013, both in terms of operating performance and cash as corporate culture, "said the intermediary.

The fourth quarter alone, sales of Altran amounted to 370.6 million euros, increasing by 6% and an "economic growth" of 8, 6%. 

"Despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, the Group is reasonably confident for 2012," he said in a statement its CEO, Philippe Salle.

Philippe Salle had told Reuters in October Altran, a deficit in 2010 would remain negative in 2011 but would profit in 2012.