“As for the Fed, we can't see any drama surrounding next Wednesday's hike. There isn't a corner of the planet where the notice of this increase hasn't already arrived for a year and where it hasn't been widely discussed and discounted in prices. More than a rush to sell, we therefore see likely a big global yawn or even a brief upside in the event of a particularly reassuring press conference. This is how Alessandro Fugnoli of Kairos sees it. And the news, for now, proves him right.
The US stock exchanges closed the session in positive territory, albeit held back by the new drop in crude oil and by the strength of the dollar: Dow Jones +0,47%, S&P +0,23%, Nasdaq +0,44%. Energy stocks rebounded (sector index +0,62%), especially Chevron, up 2% despite still weak crude oil. In fact, the drop in oil continued for the fifth consecutive day, pushing Brent to 39,73 dollars and the WTI to 36,76. The most awaited data today concerns the trend in consumption in November, including the start of the Christmas campaign.
Guo Guanchang, 47, one of the most important and charismatic Chinese businessmen, explodes in Asia. Guo, ranked 17th richest man in the country, may have been arrested as part of the investigation that recently led to the arrest of the president of the Agricultural Bank of China and other managers of major financial institutions. The title of his company, Fosun International (owner, among other things, of Club Med and Cirque du Soleil) was suspended this morning from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Bonds issued to finance purchases recorded a sharp decline.
The Chinese Stock Exchanges are down: Hong Kong -0,8% and Shanghai -0,8%. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is starting to close up 0,6%.
EUROPEAN NERVOUS EXCHANGES, SPREAD AT 98
A mixed opening of the European lists is announced: London -14 bp to 6.074, Paris -2 bp to 4.633. Very slight increase in Frankfurt: + 1 point at 10.600. A sluggish day for the European stock exchanges which failed to achieve the expected recovery after two days of decline. In Piazza Affari, the FtseMib index closed with a drop of 0,4%, the stock exchanges of Paris and Frankfurt practically unchanged. Down London and Madrid, both -0,6%.
On the bond market, on the other hand, the spread between ten-year BTPs and their German counterparts rose to 98 points. The 1,53-year rate fell to 1,55% (against 12). The market response to the 5,5-month bot offer at the auction was good; 0,03 billion were placed at -0,30% (against the previous -XNUMX%).
ENI OPENS THE DOSSIER ON THE SALE OF VERSALIS
Even in Piazza Affari, trading focused on oil stocks. Saipem achieved an increase of 1,53%. Tenaris +1%, after six consecutive days of decline. From the front of the majors comes new news of investment cuts: ConocoPhillips, one of the main operators of shale oil, decided yesterday to reduce capital expenditure by a further 25%, after the 20% cut last December.
Eni closed unchanged after a bullish morning. Mario Miceli, secretary general of Filctem-Cgil, told Reuters that an Eni board of directors is expected on December 17, which could discuss the start of negotiations to sell a 70% stake in Versalis. We are talking about the US fund SK Capital Partners. Commodities stocks (Stoxx of the sector +1,3%) recovered on European stock exchanges, thanks above all to the 8% jump of Glencore. Widespread realizations for other energy sources: Enel -1,29%, Enel Green Power -1,3% and A2A -0,38%.
BANKS STILL IN THE SIGHT. UNICREDIT SHOPPING IN POLAND
The downturn in the banking sector continues, under fire for the consequences of the Save Banks. The sector index closed down 0,59%. Agreement down by 0,84%. Unicredit -1,16%. In a meeting with the foreign press, CEO Federico Ghizzoni said that the group could examine the possibility of making acquisitions in Poland. According to recent rumors, the Polish subsidiary Banca Pekao, the country's second largest bank, is interested in acquiring BPH, a bank controlled by General Electric listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange with a value of around 2,5 billion zlots (just under 600 million of Euro). Ghizzoni also said that he hopes to close the sale of the Ukrainian assets early next year: in August the bank started exclusive negotiations for three months with ABH Holdings, part of the Russian group Alfa.
The fall of some popular companies continues: Bpm -1,31%, Banco Popolare -1,64%. Monte Paschi also leaves another 0,64% on the ground. The bank should quickly sell around one billion euros of non-performing loans to Fortress, a specialized US group that operates in Italy with Italfondiario.
TELECOM, 55% OF SHAREHOLDERS ALREADY BOOKED FOR THE SHAREHOLDERS' MEETING
Telecom Italia fell sharply (-1,9%) just a few days after the comparison between the funds and Vivendi at the shareholders' meeting. The company announced that, as of yesterday, 15% of the ordinary share capital, equal to approximately 55,46 billion shares, was entitled to participate in the meeting held on 7,487 December. Updated data will be provided today and on Monday evening.
The judgment of the Barclays team, led by Mathieu Robillard, on the Italian company is severe: it is better to stay away, according to a report on European telecommunications (positive opinion on the sector) by Telecom Italia. The Italian fixed-line telephony market has interesting prospects, above all because the average expenditure of users is lower than that in Europe, but this, the report points out, is due to the low penetration of the service, in turn motivated by a by now chronic lack of investment in the telephone network.
Barclays instead confirms its Outperform on Orange, a judgment which is mainly based on multiples below the average of European telephony. But the chances of creating value from a merger of the two groups are slim, according to the broker.
Mediaset is recovering (+1,6%) after the losses of the previous days. According to the Spanish specialized press, the digital pay platform Movistar+ (of Telefonica) could no longer make use of the Publiespana concessionaire in 2016. Indeed, it seems that Telefonica is intending to create an internal structure for the collection of advertising.
FINMECCANICA PROMOTED, VOLKSWAGEN'S RECOVERY CONTINUES
Industrial stocks also struggled. Finmeccanica moved little (+0,15%). Kepler-Cheuvreux reiterated the Buy recommendation, bringing the target price to 16 euros from 14 euros. +0,15%. According to Bloomberg last spring Boeing would have probed the ground for a possible acquisition of Westland, but it would have been rejected.
FiatChrysler slightly decreased (-0,16%). Volkswagen's rise continued (+1,7%), in the light of the new, much lower numbers of vehicles involved in irregularities for CO2 emissions.
Pininfarina stock thud in Piazza Affari (-9,44%) after the news that the family holding company (which controls the brand) has controlled the brand, ended up in liquidation after the shareholders' decision to approve the early dissolution. StM dropped by 1%, positive Prysmian (+1,2%) and Buzzi (+0,7%).
SALES IN SPAIN FOR RCS -4,3%
The new crash of RCS (-4,3%) is significant. The publishing group is speeding up the time to sell the Spanish subsidiary Veo Television which has two licenses for digital terrestrial. Value around 50 million euros.
Positive cues for the more defensive stocks: Atlantia +1,1%, Terna +0,34%, Snam +0,08%. Luxury decreases: sales on Moncler (-3,1%) and Yoox (-1,4%). Among the mid caps, Dada (+3,8%) and Recordati (+2,2%) rose.
