The data on US unemployment and the unexpected rise in the non-manufacturing ISM index give the stock markets a breather on a weak day and unnerved by the Fed's minutes published last night which highlighted disagreements on the future of the quantitative easing policy. The European stock exchanges closed in positive territory: Milan rose by 0,29% and the spread closed at 272 basis points after having dropped to 270. Frankfurt +0,26%, Paris +0,04%, London +0,7% . Madrid +0,07%. Athens rises by 1,25%.
The US ISM manager confidence index on the services sector rose to 56,1 in December from 54,7 in November. At the same time the data on unemployment indicated that the USA has created 155 new jobs with an unemployment rate which therefore remains stationary at 7,7%.
On the labor front, in Europe next Tuesday the European Commission will present the new report on the social and employment situation in Europe: long-term unemployment, wage polarization, functioning of social protection systems are the themes monitored in the study. In the Eurozone, after five years of economic crisis by now, unemployment has reached the highest levels in the last twenty years: 11,6% in the Eurozone in September was the all-time high since Eurostat published the statistical series from 1995. In absolute terms this means 18 and a half million people without work, rising to 25 million and 700 thousand in the whole European Union (10,6%). At the same time another fact emerges: despite the crisis in the EU there are over 2 million vacant jobs, not 'filled' by anyone.
In Italy today INPS announced that in 2012 Italian companies requested almost 1,1 billion hours of layoffs with an increase of 12,1% compared to 2011. In 2012 the figure reached 1.090 million compared to 973 million in 2011. The maximum level was reached two years ago, in 2010, with almost 1,2 billion authorized hours. In December, 86,5 million hours of cig were authorized with a drop of 20,1% compared to November and an increase of 15,3% compared to December 2011. In the meantime, inflation reared its head again, touching the value the highest annual average since 2008 while growth shows no signs of recovery: Istat announced that the average annual inflation rate for 2012 is 3,0%, an acceleration compared to 2,8% in 2011.
On Wall Street, stock markets move cautiously. At the close of Europe, the Dow Jones was practically flat (+0,04%) and the Nasdaq down slightly -0,32%. The dollar hit a 29-month high against the yen on signs of a possible divergence in the monetary policies of the two countries with the Fed divided over quantitative easing, The greenback also holds against the euro with the euro-dollar exchange rate down slightly to 1,3043, 0,05 (+1,77%). On fears for the end of Qe, precious metals are also deprived of appeal. Gold dropped 1.645% to $0,30 an ounce. WTI oil fell by 92,64% to 2011 dollars a barrel. Meanwhile, ten-year UK gilt yields surpassed those of France for the first time since XNUMX, sparking speculation that the Bank of England's bond-buying program could resume.
In Piazza Affari, Mps leaps by 12,34%, above 0,26 cents, with substantial volumes for 837,9 million pieces of countervalue, equal to 7,17% of the capital, and after ending up in a volatility auction. MPS is one of the most sensitive banking stocks, for better or for worse, to the spread. Which is approaching the threshold of 200 points indicated by CEO Fabrizio Viola on 21 December to transform the bank which has 25 billion BTPs on hand into "one of the most capitalised" ones. But for operators, anomalous trades on the stock do not depend only on the spread. Mps would be among the institutes that would benefit the most from changes following the entry into force of Basel III. In particular, hypotheses are circulating relating to a possible postponement of the rules on liquidity not by 2015 as initially envisaged but more gradually by 2019.
With the decrease in the spread, the other banks also did well: Bpm +5,09%, Mediobanca +1,85%, Banco Popolare +1,61%. Intesa +0,73% and Unicredit +0,52%. The European Commission intervened in favor of the Piazza Cordusio group against the limitations imposed by Germany to transfer liquidity from the German subsidiary Hypovereinsbank. From today's Consob reports it emerges that the Cassa di Risparmio di Torino Foundation has reduced its stake in Unicredit: on December 21st, the institution in fact dropped from 3,856% to 2,507%.
In light, Fiat also rose by 1,62% after further growth at Chrysler and sales figures in the USA. The Lingotto today received from the Brazilian state bank Bndes (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social) the disbursement of a loan of 2,4 billion real (about 900 million euros) intended to finance the construction of the new car factory in Goiana, in the northeastern state of Pernambuco. The factory will have a production capacity of 250 cars a year and will be part of a complex also made up of an engine production plant, a test track and an industrial park intended to house component suppliers. Fiat, it communicated just yesterday, surpassed its historical production and sales record in Brazil in 2012, recording the best performance in its 36 years of presence in the South American country.
Finmeccanica closes weakly even if it returns to positive territory at +0,09%: after the momentum on the two agreements closed in the last week, today the stock is weighed down by the prospect of a postponement of the times for the sale of Ansaldo Energia. In fact, Il Messaggero writes that the sale will only take place after the vote in the political elections at the end of February. At the bottom of the Ftse Mib Stm -1,5%, Ansaldo -1,37%, Telecom Italia -1,25%, Saipem -0,82%, Parmalat -0,78%.
