The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that near-term risks to the economic outlook had "diminished".
But after a flurry of interest from potential suitors, including GlaxoSmithKline of Britain, the outlook for a deal has diminished.
Dan Greenhaus, the chief global strategist at BTIG, wrote that investors were responding to the Fed's statement that the "downside risks to the outlook for the economy" had "diminished since the fall".
"Most participants saw the downside risks arising from economic and financial developments abroad as having diminished and judged the risks to the outlook for domestic economic activity and the labor market to be nearly balanced".
"Five years of economic misery have profoundly diminished Americans' confidence in the economy and their outlook for the next generation," said Carl Van Horn, a Rutgers professor and coauthor of the survey.
"What this says right now is that, at least according to an accounting interpretation, the outlook for earnings in their U.S. business has diminished from where it was," said John Casesa, an industry analyst with the Casesa Shapiro Group.
House broker N+1 Singer said: The group's opportunities have not diminished (sales pipeline remains substantial) and we believe the medium-term growth outlook remains very healthy..
Last month, Applied said its outlook for the current quarter, which ends Aug. 1, was diminished amid an uncertain demand picture, even though profits in the quarter ended May 1 $305 million on sales of $1.86 billion–surpassed expectations.
Speaking in Frankfurt Draghi said: "The risks surrounding the economic outlook for the euro area remain on the downside, but should have diminished after today's monetary policy decisions and the continued fall in oil prices over recent weeks".
In the near-term outlook, since the reasons for higher gold prices do not seem to have diminished, there could be some deferred demand in its most robust markets: India, China and the Middle East.
