On Wall Street, stock prices fell on Wednesday following the data that the American economy weakened in the fourth quarter of last year, which no one expected.
The Dow Jones index weakened by 44 points, or 0.32 percent, to 13,910 points, while the S&P 500 slid 0.39 percent to 1,501 points, and the Nasdaq index fell 0.36 percent to 3,142 points.
Thanks to strong growth since the beginning of the year, the S&P 500 index could record its largest jump since October 2011 this month. However, weak macroeconomic data unsettled investors yesterday.
In the period from October to December, the American gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1 percent year-on-year, after a growth of 3.1 percent in the previous quarter. This is the worst result since the second quarter of 2009 when the recession ended.
Economists surveyed by Reuters expected activity growth of 1.1 percent. None of them predicted a decline, which is a result of reduced government spending and decreased inventories.
However, a recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of GDP decline, is not expected.
After a two-day meeting, Fed leaders stated that the economy has stalled, but likely temporarily. The central American bank also indicated that it will maintain its current bond-buying programs until unemployment in the U.S. is significantly reduced.
Stock prices also fell on European exchanges yesterday. The London FTSE index weakened by 0.25 percent to 6,323 points, while the Frankfurt DAX slid 0.47 percent to 7,811 points, and the Paris CAC fell 0.54 percent to 3,765 points.
