Banks can't find peace and the quarterly round in progress at Piazza Affari is the cue to go back to selling. Thus, the sector ends the session once again at the bottom of the Ftse Mib, weighing down the basket of blue chips which closes down by 1,32%.
Today the Minister of Economy Pier Carlo Padoan is a guest of Bloomberg in London. "The private" banking sector "could decide to strengthen Atlante with additional resources", said the number one of Via XX Settembre indicating that on the trend of non-performing loans Italy is at a "turning point" because the government measures are working and Npl credits are declining. As far as the public accounts are concerned, Padoan said he is confident that the extraordinary elements that justify deviations, as required by the rule, will be taken into due consideration by the Commission.
The Btp-Bund spread rose again slightly, reaching 141 basis points (+1,3%) and a yield of 1,55%.
On the government bond front there was a new all-time low for annual BoT yield: the gross rate of the 12-month bond fell today by 6 basis points compared to the previous auction, settling at -0,14%, the new minimum level ever reached for this maturity. Demand was sustained: 1,19 billion euros compared to the 6,5 billion offered and entirely assigned by the Treasury. The supply/demand ratio stood at 1,72, up on the March auction. In the meantime, according to sources from the Ministry of the Economy, the Treasury is assessing the demand for a possible 50-year BTP.
However, the sentiment on the markets is negative throughout Europe with Paris losing 0,5%, Frankfurt 0,7%. London is back on par (+0,09%) in the final.
Even on Wall Street the indices travel downwards despite oil's recovery, which accelerated after the release of data on US inventories last week which fell by 3,4 million barrels, more than expected. The WTI thus rose by about 3% to 45,99 dollars a barrel. Brent crude advanced by 3,65% to 47,18 dollars a barrel. The disappointment for some quarterly results below forecasts, in particular those of Macy's and Walt Disney, weighs heavily on the US lists.
In Piazza Affari, however, oil stocks are not benefiting from the surprise sprint of black gold. In Piazza Affari Eni loses 1,03%. But, as mentioned, it is the banks that tumble to the bottom of the Ftse Mib with the worst drops marked by the Banco Popolare closing in the red by 9,09%. The sales on the Banco are triggered by the accounts worse than expected due to the new surprise write-downs on risky loans, which have put the spotlight on the mass of non-performing loans in the belly of the banks, on which the fears of the markets are concentrated. The capital increase from 1 billion at the beginning of June was confirmed, entirely with option rights, and this is precisely a further element of concern for the markets. Bpm -6,38% is also bad. Unicredit -3,73%. Soul -4,28%. Thanks to the good quarterly however, Mediobanca managed to close the session against the trend, rising by 1,75%.
Among the worst blue chips is Mediaset -4,9% in the aftermath of the publication of quarterly accounts: the market's doubts about how much the exit from Premium pay TV will cost Alfa, close to being sold to Vivendi, as well as the less exciting prospects on the trend of advertising in the second quarter.
Sharp rise on the Ftse Mib Moncler +4,61% celebrating the quarterly better than expected, followed by Leonardo-Finmeccanica +3,76%, Prysmian +2,09%, Cnh Industrial +1,55%. Off the main list, Astaldi leaps by 8,63% after presenting the plan for 2020.
On the TLC front, the news of the day is that the European Commission has blocked the purchase of the British O2 (owned by Spain's Telefonica) by Hutchison because it believes the deal will lead to more limited choice and higher prices for UK mobile consumers and created barriers to innovation. The decision follows the in-depth investigation by the Antitrust into the operation that would have linked O2 (Telefonica UK) to Three (Hutchison 3G UK) creating a new market leader in the UK "risk of making an important competitor disappear" given that the new entity would have to deal with only two mobile network operators, Everything Everywhere of the BT group and Vodafone.
