Cautious stock exchanges after the German Zew index and Yellen's words on the Fed's future monetary policy moves. Added to this are the banking tensions that came from Portugal with the Espirito Santo case and from Bulgaria where the government, grappling with a serious financial crisis, has asked the ECB to take oversight of its banks despite not being part of the Eurozone.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the banking sector receives the good news from the quarterly reports of Goldman Sachs and JpMorgan, which turned out to be above expectations. However, this is not enough to shake up the price lists which on Wall Street proceed in contrast while in the old continent they close in the red, with Milan leading the declines. The Ftse Mib closes down by 1,33% even if the Btp spread is improving to 164 basis points, Paris at -1%, Madrid -1,06%, London -0,5% and Frankfurt -0,65 %.
In Berlin, the Zew index disappointed expectations, falling in July to 27,1 points from 29,8 in June, against expectations of a more limited drop to 28. This is the seventh consecutive drop of the indicator which fell to its lowest since December 2012 which fuels fears about the economic recovery of the Eurozone. The Portuguese index falls by 1,13%. The Espirito Santo banking institution continues to tumble after the largest shareholder, the holding company Espirito Santo Financial Group of the Portuguese family of the same name, announced that it had reduced its stake in the institution from 24,99% to 20,1% of the capital , to honor the maturities of its debt.
However, some positive data comes from the United States where Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan closed their quarterly results above expectations. Goldman Sachs revenues rose to $9,12 billion from $8,61 billion in the second quarter of 2013 and market estimates at $7,97 billion. JP Morgan Chase saw profits fall 8% from the same period last year but still beat analysts' forecasts. In the three months ended June, the largest US bank by assets, reported net income of $5,985 billion, $1,46 per share, down 8% from $6,496 billion, $1,60 per share, from the same period last year. Analysts were expecting profits of $1,29.
In addition, the Empire Thermometer Manufacturing Index in the New York region was at its highest level in four years in July, up six points to 25,6, while analysts had expected a marked decline at 13,2.
On the other hand, inventories were in line with expectations, which rose by 0,5% in May, while disappointing retail sales in June which rose by +0,2%, seasonally adjusted compared to the previous month, against analysts' expectations of +0,6 .XNUMX%. But the words of Janet Yellen who spoke in the Senate today weighed on everything. "The US economy continues to improve but the recovery is not yet complete" he said, specifying however that if the labor market continues to improve at a faster pace than expected, US interest rates could rise again sooner and faster than as planned.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones is the only index up 17.064 points +0,05% after hitting an intraday record of 17105 points. In red instead the S&P500 -0,27% and the Nasdaq -0,72%. The euro-dollar exchange rate dropped 0,34% to 1,3573 while WTI oil fell 1,59% to 99,33 dollars a barrel, below 100 dollars for the first time since 12 May.
In Piazza Affari at the bottom of the Ftse Mib Mediobanca collapses -4,1%, followed by Autogrill -3,5% and Telecom Italia -3,21%. In its annual report, Agcom highlighted that in 2013 the former telecommunications monopolist recorded a market share in broadband services of less than 50%, the first time since it has been operating in this sector. In contrast, Yoox +4,26% after the promotion of Cheuvreux analysts to hold from sell, Mps +2,68%, Banco Popolare +1,4%, Mediolanum +0,62%, rose on the main index. In red instead Unicredit -2,1% and Intesa -1,61%.
