There is a lot of meat on the fire and the embers are still getting red hot, so the European stock exchanges open the week with a mixed session, in the absence of London and many Asian lists, stopped for holidays. At the close: Milan +0,39% (38.475 basis points); Frankfurt +1,19% to its all-time high of 23.331 points; Madrid +0,65%; Paris -0,55; Amsterdam -0,13%. Wall Street It is moving weakly in the first hours of trading, but it should be remembered that last week the indices, on both sides of the Atlantic, have completely recovered the losses suffered since April 2, the day the duties were introduced.
But today the good news was that the President of the United States Donald Trump he decided to put the game under the rates (100%) also for films produced abroad, while the dialogue with China is languishing for now. The trade war extended to the cinema weighs down the titles of the sector from Netflix a Walt Disney, from Warner Bros to Paramount, while in Europe investors have focused on some quarterly reports and significant operations, real or presumed. In particular First bank (+8,16%) soars on the stock exchange Vienna (+1,36%) after agreeing to acquire 49% of Santander Bank Polska from the Spanish parent company and 50% of the Santander tfi asset management group, for a total consideration of 7 billion euros. Santander appreciates by 0,55% on the Madrid stock exchange. The shares of shell lost 1,91% in Amsterdam on press reports that the oil major is working with advisors to assess a possible acquisition of competitor BP.
The oil sector is also penalized globally by the collapse of crude oil, following the announcement by OPEC+ of new production increases.
The title is under observation in New York Berkshire Hathaway (-4,13%) after Warren Buffett announced his resignation as CEO of the conglomerate and the board voted to appoint Abel as CEO, while Buffett remains chairman.
This week, focus on the Fed
One of the highlights of the week, which is highly anticipated, is the Federal Reserve meeting who, on Wednesday, will announce his monetary policy decisions. The markets are betting that Jerome Powell will not give in to the very strong pressure from Trump and will keep interest rates at their current level (between 4,25% and 4,5%). The tycoon, however, does not give up and after having clarified that he will not remove the central banker, he calls him "a real idiot", while renewing his calls for a cut in the cost of money. In a macro context, seen last week, in which the American GDP fell in the first quarter, but the labor market was still dynamic in April, Powell will have an easy time conducting a wait-and-see policy. Investors will therefore evaluate his words with interest, to adjust their bets on the future. For now, it is believed that a cut will come at the meeting on June 18.
Oil and dollar go down
Another pot that is boiling is that of Petroleum, which sees prices fall due to a trade war that could herald a global slowdown in the economy and due to the choice of OPEC and its allies to increase crude oil production by 411 thousand barrels per day starting in June. This is the second consecutive increase in production, given that the cartel had already surprised the market last month by announcing an increase in production of the same amount, more than triple what was expected. In this context, futures of Brent and Wti they give up about 2,5%, for prices below 60 dollars a barrel, respectively 59,83 and 56,76 dollars.
The uncertainty that has been hovering for some time favors the rgold recovery, which currently sees prices rise above 3315 dollars per ounce (+2,32%).
On the currency markets, moreover, the dollar is trading lower against major currencies. Theeuro moves around 1,133 (+0,35%) and the pound changes at 1,33 awaiting the Bank of England to also pronounce itself on rates this week (Thursday).
Much more significant movements were recorded on the Asian currencies. In particular, the Taiwan dollar hit a three-year high against the greenback, fueling speculation that some Asian countries are ready to revalue their currencies to gain trade concessions from the United States.
Piazza Affari, banks protagonists
In Piazza Affari, for better or for worse, it is still the bank risk to take centre stage in today's session, at the start of a week that will also see the institutions put to the test by their quarterly accounts.
The big maneuvers fuel the speculative appeal of the sector and surrounding stocks. At the top of the list stands Generali (+3,22%) and not far away there is Mediobanca (+1,92%). Piazzetta Cuccia wants Banca Generali (+2,91%) and intends to give Trieste its share of Leone shares in exchange.
Today the CEO of Mediobanca, Alberto Nagel, was expected at Palazzo Chigi and the move he devised received the applause from Massimo Doris: "it's a good operation for Mediobanca, assuming it goes well". The CEO of Banca Mediolanum (+0,52%) spoke as a shareholder, given that overall he holds approximately 3,5% of Mediobanca.
At the top of the list is also listed Unipol +2,68%, in an insurance sector that is clearly well bought and involved in the ongoing banking maneuvers. The Bologna giant is also a shareholder of Pop from Sondrio +0,35% and Bper + 0,6%.
The other side of the moon is negative bank stocks: Unicredit -1,25%, which will meet the board of directors on Sunday to discuss the accounts and will probably take stock of the takeover bid launched on Bpm bank (-0,44%), in a scenario that, according to some press reports, does not exclude a step back by Orcel, given the obstacles encountered by the offer including a Golden Power that has set limits that are difficult to respect.
The achievements also penalize Ps -0,33, which in turn has Mediobanca in its sights.
Out of this maze, rises Leonardo +1,29%, with Moody's confirming the 'Baa3' rating and improving the outlook to 'positive' from 'stable'.
They are decreasing instead stm -1,09% and oil stocks, such as Saipem -1,06% ed Eni -0,65%.
Spreads down
The secondary market appears little moved: the spread between ten-year BTPs and Bunds of the same duration falls to 109 basis points (-1,81%), with rates slightly decreasing to 3,6% and 2,52% respectively.
