An almost perfect storm hit the markets today, with winds blowing from various directions, sometimes even opposite.
Waiting for the publication of the minutes of the last Fed meeting tonight, the nightmare returns inflation (which went up in April in Great Britain and the EU) which, according to the latest survey by Bank of America, is now more frightening than Covid for many managers. On the other hand, the pandemic scourges Asia and weighs on the prospects for recovery and on oil prices. Inflation uncertainties are also leading investors to reduce exposure to riskier assets, such as crude oil.
La Federal Reserve has indicated that it will keep interest rates at current levels until 2023, "but - writes Reuters - the futures market prices an increase as early as September 2022". The Brent it loses almost 3,45% and trades at 66,34 dollars a barrel, after briefly touching 70 dollars yesterday.
Added to this picture is the fact that China has reiterated that digital currencies cannot be used as a means of payment and this has overwhelmed cryptocurrencies, already severely tested in recent sessions. The bitcoin it hit a three-month low around $36.250, with a double-digit percentage drop. It is currently losing about 13% and is over $37.
Thus, the European lists close in deep red, although far from the lows of the session reached with the negative start of Wall Street.
Frankfurt loses 1,66%, Amsterdam -1,63% Paris -1,45, Madrid -1,26% London -1,07%.
Business Square it drops 1,58% and slips to 24.486 points, with sales spread across all sectors. In black jersey it is Cnh -5,35%, they follow Buzzi -3,55% Tenaris -2,74% Finecobank -2,71% stellantis -2,4% Eni -2,28%.
At the top of the list there are only five shares, with fractional increases. The best title is Amplifon + 0,58%.
The banks are negative, despite the fact that there is still a lot of ferment in the sector due to the rumors that follow one another on the aims between various institutions in the perspective of new mergers. Speculative appeal still favors Bpm bank (+0,55%), which closed positively and against the trend. Today a newspaper writes that CEO Giuseppe Castagna would have updated the board of the last council by hypothesizing a merger with B for Bank (-1,89%) not only as the main objective but also as an affordable target.
Mediobanca on the other hand, it yielded 1,93% after the confirmation that Leonardo Del Vecchio has risen to 15,402% of the capital of Piazzetta Cuccia. Bad the big ones, Understanding -2,12% and Unicredit –1,26%.
Accomplishments sink Ps -3,74%.
Out of the main basket Technogym sells 7,56% after the placement of 5,96% by Tgh, the third in three years; the market fears further sales of shares by the founder Nerio Alessandri in the future, triggering the "overhang" effect on the shares.
The closing is also in the red for the bond market: it goes up spreads, to 118 basis points (+2,1%) and the yield on ten-year BTPs grew to 1,06%.
The European Central Bank says it will intervene on the bond markets only if the rate hike is not justified and accompanied by a recovery of the economy.
“If this increase is the consequence of a normalization of the economy – says the vice president Luis de Guindos – it is something that is part of a wider context. If there is a recovery underway, if inflation starts to rise and economic activity normalizes, then nominal rates will have to go up”.
In the Financial Stability Review, the ECB also warns that the risks to financial stability, in the phase out of the third wave of the pandemic, "remain high" and could concentrate on some countries where companies are more indebted. With the phasing out of business support measures, “considerably higher insolvency rates than before the pandemic cannot be ruled out, especially in some countries. This in turn can put pressure on sovereign issuers and banks that have provided support to companies during the pandemic. Among the problems reported by Frankfurt is the "real estate bubble".
On the macroeconomic front, inflation in Great Britain more than doubled in April, to its peak since last year, and went from 0,7% annually in March to 1,5%. The driving force was the cost of clothing and energy. An acceleration was also recorded in the Eurozone with the annual rate rising to 1,6% in April, from 1,3% in March. In the European Union the rate rose to 2%, from 1,7% in March.
On the currency market theeuro-dollar travels on the levels of the day before, around 1,22.
Risk aversion raises thegold, which moved up 0,9% to 1543,93 dollars an ounce.
Among the breaking news is that Joseph Blount, chief executive officer of Colonial Pipeline Co., told the Wall Street Journal that he had authorized the payment of a $4,4 million ransom to the hackers responsible for the cyber attack that crippled the main US oil pipeline for days.
This is the first time the company has publicly admitted to paying a ransom. Yesterday, research group Elliptic, quoted by CNBC, said the hackers received a total of $90 million in bitcoin from Colonial Pipeline. In the previous days, the US media had talked about a payment of 5 million dollars in bitcoins.
