An Apple threatens to poison relations between the European Union and the United States. The decision of Brussels to inflict a fine of over 13 billion euros (plus interest) to Apple for having enjoyed tax advantages in Ireland, thus violating state aid legislation, opens a season of conflicts coinciding with the breakdown of the negotiations on the TTIP treaty. Washington denounces the EU's claim to set itself up as a "global tax police, ignoring the agreements between states". The EU, through Commissioner Margrethe Verstagen, replies that "as taxpayers we must rebel against the idea that Apple has paid only 1% of taxes on its profits".
On Wall Street, Apple shares (-0,7% to 106 dollars) limited the damage. But operators fear that the clash risks overshadowing the launch of the iPhone7, set for September 7 in San Francisco. More generally, a season of uncertainty is opening on deals between Europe and the USA: the two sides of the Atlantic are more distant.
FISCHER (FED): RATES RISE LIKELY
The tug of war on the Apple falls on a day of sharp rises in the dollar caused by an intervention by Stanley Fischer, number two at the Fed. increase above the normal values, i.e. beyond the range between 85 and 125 thousand new jobs, I believe an increase in rates is likely as early as September". The forecast of the experts speaks of 180 more workers.
TOKYO COULD BUY T-BONDS AND BTPs TO HOLD THE YEN BACK
Tokyo up (+1%), thanks to the weak yen. Hong Kong is down, pegged to the dollar. Slight increases for Shanghai and Shenzhen. The Japanese economy is still losing blows: industrial production down by 3,8% compared to a year ago. Koichi Hamada, economic advisor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said Tokyo could consider subscribing to foreign government bonds to weaken the exchange rate.
The strength of the greenback has dampened the dust a bit on Wall Street. The Dow Jones index closed down 0,26%. S&P 500 – 0,2%, Nasdaq -0,18%. Financial stocks supported the list: the sector index is at its highest since last December, on the eve of the first rate hike in ten years. Down Hershey (-11,3%) after the failure to buy by Mondelez (+3,7%). The collapse of Abercrombie & Fitch (-20,3%) is impressive: sales are down for the 14th quarter in a row and there is no trend reversal.
Oil prices fell this morning: Brent -0,1%, at 48,30 dollars a barrel, Wti at 46,24 dollars (-0,2%). The Iraqi oil minister said he was in favor of an agreement on production quotas at the next informal meeting of OPEC.
The stocks of the sector in Piazza Affari were positive: Saipem +0,98%, Tenaris +1,2%, Eni +1,71%. Norway's petroleum safety authority (PSA) has asked for plans on how to prevent future power shortages at the Goliat platform in the Barents Sea. Production has stopped since Friday.
MILAN +1,42% AT THE TOP. TODAY VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN SPAIN
The euro at a 2-week low helped support the European indices. The best was Piazza Affari: FtseMib index up 1,42%, at 16.891 points, supported by insurance companies and banks. After the Istat data on the turnover of services, which increased by 1% between April and June compared to the first quarter of 2016, the Ministry of the Economy estimates "positive economic growth in the second quarter, not zero growth".
The Treasury has sold out and rates at new lows for 5 and 10-year BTPs in medium-long term auctions. In the afternoon, the Italian 1,14-year rate, placed at auction at a yield of 1,125%, a new all-time low, was hovering around 120%. The spread with the corresponding maturity of the Bund was stable in the area of XNUMX basis points. August inflation and employment data will be released today.
Frankfurt (+1,07%), Madrid (+0,8%) and Paris (+0,75%) also advanced. The only negative was London, which lost 0,25%. On the technical front, notes Giuseppe Sersale of Anthilia, “developments in Europe are becoming interesting: the Eurostoxx is back in the 3040 area, where it was rejected several times. Beyond that is the 3090 level, above which the double bottom is completed. Among the elements that lead to optimism is the break, by the Eurostoxx banks, of the trendline descending from the maximums”.
Attention to Spanish politics: today there will be a vote of confidence in the executive led by Mariano Rajoy with the support of the liberals of Ciudadanos. Rajoy will have to try to obtain a majority of 176 votes, a difficult undertaking without the support of Pedro Sanchez's socialists. A new vote is expected on Friday, this time with a simple majority, to give Spain a government eight months after the elections.
DOUBLE THAT BANK! (MEDIOBANCA), UNICREDIT STARTS AGAIN
The recovery of the banking sector continues. Advance Mediobanca (+2,51%) driven by the purchase by the subsidiary What a Bank! of the retail business of Barclays Italia, an operation that allows the multi-channel bank to double its size, exceeding 20 billion in funding and 800 customers.
Resume running Unicredit (+2,2%). The institute, awaiting developments on the sale of Pekao, is preparing to sell 20 billion of non-performing loans accompanied by state guarantees. Meanwhile, the hypothesis of integrating Pioneer and Eurizon, controlled by Intesa San Paolo (+2,4%), is making headway, to contain the Unicredit capital increase to 7 billion.
The objective of limiting the demand for capital on the market is at the heart of the project to convert subordinated bonds into shares Mount Paschi (+0,7%). The other banks also rose: Pop. Emilia +2,8%, Banco Popolare +1,3%.
Good rise also for insurance companies: Generali +2,7%, UnipolSai +3,8%, Unipol +3,2%. Fitch Ratings believes that Italian insurers' operating margins will decline this year in life business, while non-life business performance should remain stable.
FCA WITH SAMSUNG FOR THE DRIVERLESS CAR, ENEL OPENS TO THE ELECTRIC CAR
fca +2,5%. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Sergio Marchionne explained that the company does not aim at a simple sale of Magneti Marelli to the Korean Samsung, but at opening a technological alliance with the Koreans on self-driving cars.
Telecom Italy +2%. Vivendi does not write down the investment, on which it has a theoretical loss of 1,3 billion. The French group also announced that the summons presented by Mediaset (+1,35%) to the Court of Milan to obtain execution of the Premium agreement were not notified.
Enel +1%. The activity of the first energy exchange park between electric cars and the grid has been launched. The first "vehicle-to-grid" (V2G) hub is operational in Denmark, thanks to the collaboration between Nissan, Enel and the Californian company Nuvve. V2G allows electric cars to be fully integrated into the national electricity grid, making them able to accumulate and return any excess energy produced to the grid.
DIASORIN AND RECORDATI ON SHIELDS
Yesterday was a positive day for biomedical and pharma. Diasorin (+2,9%) celebrated thereagreement with Beckman Coulter Diagnostics to supply Liaison XL Hepatitis A, B and C and HIV testing in the United States.
Recordati +2,59% following the upward revision of estimates by Credit Suisse. For the broker, net profit in December of this year will amount to 238 million euros, a forecast influenced by the approval of the drug Graspa, the increase in sales of orphan drugs and the reinvestment of free cash flow.
EXTRAORDINARY DIVIDEND FOR ITALMOBILIARE, AUTOGRILL DOWN
In red Rest (-1,03%). The company has received an offer from Gr8 Investments for the sale of the entire share capital of the Dutch subsidiary which manages 18 hotels with restaurants in some Dutch service areas.
Down Cerved (-1,37%). Equita (rating hold and target price at 8 euro), however, highlighted new opportunities for the Credit Management division: the company is one of the main independent players in Italy for the management of problem loans.
Finally Italmobiliare (+2,06%) will release tomorrow the extraordinary privileged dividend reserved for savings shareholders, equal to 80 euro and 3 HeidelbergCement shares for every 10 savings shares.
