investor confidence

The euro is rising against the dollar as borrowing rates fall in Italy and Spain. That's a sign that investor confidence in those two countries is improving.

Bottom Line: The Fed's assessment of an economy with "signficant downside risks" has slammed stocks in Asia, Europe and on Wall Street too.

Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street: 1. US stocks finished the first quarter up more than 6.5 percent, the sharpest gain during the first three months of the year since 1999.

The gains look even stronger when considering the issues markets have faced so far this year: building political tension across northern Africa and the Middle East (and the resulting rise in oil prices), and the worst earthquake ever recorded in Japan.

Further, fear of returning debt contagion in the European markets has roiled investor confidence recently, however, compared to the turmoil

Egyptian officials have again delayed the restart of the country's stock exchange, a move that brokers said Tuesday would likely only undercut investor confidence in a market many expect to take a hammering as the country struggles to regain footing after massive protests that ousted its longtime president.

A special committee says federal regulators have made positive changes, but they also need to create new rules that anticipate market problems to avoid another disruption like the May 6, 2010 plunge that rocked investor confidence.

Although BP generates billions of dollars in profit every quarter, the oil spill is rattling government and investor confidence.

Investor confidence in Greek assets sank again amid contradictory comments from officials about a planned bailout, even though Germany said it could pass necessary legislation quickly.

HIGHER;

• SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE XHB) up 2% to $15.39. Homebuilders are getting a boost as numbers for existing home sales exceeded Street expectations.
  
  Numbers showed 6.54 million homes sold, versus the 6.25 million home sales estimates.
• iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (NYSE: ITB) shares up 2.77% to $12.07.
  
  Again, this ETF is also rising on good existing home sales numbers.
• SPDRs (NYSE: SPY) up 0.19% to $111.54.
  
  The S&P is rising on good existing home sales numbers, even though revised GDP came in below estimates.

German investor confidence dipped in October as mixed economic data suggested Europe's biggest economy will recover only slowly, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday.

Investor confidence suffered another blow Friday as disappointing reports on manufacturing and home sales stirred worries that the economy will struggle to recover.