Mediaset is up sharply in Piazza Affari on the day in which the process for the acquisition of TV rights arrives in the Supreme Court, with the judges who will have to rule on Silvio Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction. The defence, announced the lawyer Franco Coppi, will not ask for any postponement.
Volumes are low on the market, but there is more activity on Mediaset than on other titles. Around 10,15 am it rises by 3,58%. Mondadori also stands out, +4,2%. The titles of the great "enemy" also rise: L'Espresso Publishing Group +10%. Mediobanca promoted the stock to outperform from neutral by raising the target price to 1,2 euro (against 0,98) . According to the analysts of the investment bank, the publishing group presents strong cash generation despite the weakness of the sector.
The Treasury has placed all 3,75 billion euros of the new ten-year BTP March 2024, with a fixed coupon of 4,50%. The yield dropped to 4,46% from 4,55% at the June auction. Demand is slowing down with a coverage ratio that has dropped to 1,36 from the previous 1,46 for a total requested of 4,957 billion euro.
The Treasury also sold 3 billion Btp over 5 years, pre-set maximum amount, with a drop in the average return to 3,22% from the previous 3,47%. Demand reached €4,084 billion with a coverage ratio up to 1,36 from the previous 1,30.
Lo spread Btp/Bund is reduced by two points 277 for a yield of the 10-year Btp at 4,43%. Piazza Affari started on the upside with the Ftse/Mib index up by 0,6%. Purchases also in Paris and London which earn 0,6%. The best is Frankfurt up 0,8%, timid purchases for Madrid which rises 0,2%.
The macro indications coming from the Eurozone are positive. Excellent macro data arriving from Germany where consumer confidence in August reached its highest level for almost 6 years thanks to optimistic expectations on wage trends and on economic growth. According to research by Gfk, the German consumer confidence index will rise to 7 points from 6,8 in June in August.
In Spain, GDP in the second quarter contracted by 0,1% after -0,5% in the previous quarter. This is the preliminary reading and is in line with market expectations. On an annual basis, the GDP recorded a -1,7% against the estimate of -1,8%.
The profit warning of. rains on Fiat Chrysler: Second quarter profit of $507 million and full-year 2013 auto shipment estimates down to $2,6 million from $2,6/2,7 million previously. As a result, the full-year net income forecast is cut to $1,7/2,2 billion from the previous $2,2 billion. On the other hand, the forecast of a turnover between 72 and 75 billion has been confirmed. While awaiting the quarterly report of the entire Fiat group, it loses 4%.
On the banking front, the case weighs Barclays: the British giant , at the request of the Bank of England , has started issuing securities for 5,8 billion with a 44% discount on Monday's quotations, to be placed through a pool of major banks . But from the prospectus of the issue, absorbed by Bofa, Citi, Deutsche Bank, a hole of 12,8 billion emerges.
Deutsche Bank closed the second quarter with lower than expected results, as a result of the weakness of commercial revenues and 600 million euros of legal disputes The bank recorded a pre-tax profit of 792 million (-18%), well below the estimates of analysts of 1,3 billion.
Positive start for Italian banks, after Monday's declines. Intesa Sanpaolo +0,3%. According to UBS, the group is the best banking institution among those in the European periphery thanks to excellent asset and coverage quality, a generous dividend and a solid capital structure.
Other securities in the sector also rose with Unicredit rising by 0,4%, Mediobanca gaining 0,4%. Ansaldo STS +0,6%. Finmeccanica down -0,1%. Oil purchases: Eni +0,6%, Tenaris +0,5%. Only Saipem backs down. Sales StMicroelectronics (+0,9%) driven by the good results of Infineon (+4%) which improved its estimates for the current year.
Analysts' opinions include:
- Luxottica +0,2%: Goldman Sachs raised its target price to 37,8 euros from the previous 36,1, confirming its neutral opinion on the stock.
- Recordati +1,4%: Jefferies analysts raised the target price on the stock to 7,7 euros from the previous 7,4, confirming the hold opinion.
- Brembo +2,6%: Cheuvreux has launched the buy recommendation with a target price set at 19 euros. Yesterday it was UBS that raised the target price on the stock to 17 euros, confirming the buy opinion.
