Positive start to the week for the European Stock Exchanges, also helped by Wall Street and the resumption of the crude run. But it is Piazza Affari that scores the most convinced spurt driven by the banking sector: the Ftse Mib closed the rise of 1,25% against fractional gains in Paris +0,22%, Frankfurt +0,63% while London slips by 0,07%.
At the close of Europe, on a day devoid of relevant macroeconomic indicators, the Dow Jones rose by 0,24% and the S&P500 by 0,32%. Overseas the quarterly season with Alcoa is underway. WTI oil gains 1,66% to 41,67 dollars a barrel. The euro-dollar is stable at 1,14203 (+0,10%). Gold rose +1,53% to 1258,16 dollars an ounce. The Btp-Bund spread is 123 basis points and a yield of 1,35%.
On the macroeconomic front, the Confindustria Study Center found in Italy an increase in industrial production of 0,2% in March over February, against a drop of 0,6% on January. In the first quarter of the year, an increase of 0,8% is estimated (highest since the fourth quarter of 2010). The leading qualitative indicators point to a positive trend in production in the coming months.
The banks are running in Piazza Affari: Banco Popolare +10,30%, Mps +9,78%, Ubi Banca +7%, Bpm +5,98%. The wait is for the meeting at the Ministry of Economy among the representatives of the top 13 Italian banks, the Foundations, the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the main insurance companies to define the details for the creation of the fund which will be called upon to guarantee the unexercised future capital increases and to buy part of the non-performing loans.
Mediaset also stands out +2,57% after HSBC promoted the details of the agreement with Vivendi to Buy, which provides for a 3,5% share swap between the two media groups and the sale of Premium, the Alfa Romeo pay-TV , to the French.
Outside the Ftse Mib, Rcs is rallying +28,79% to 0,586 euros, in the wake of Cairo Communications' Ops. The offer was promoted by the analysts of Equita Sim and Banca Akros while Mediobanca issued a fairly critical opinion and a neutral recommendation
At the bottom of the Ftse Mib are Campari -1,6%, UnipolSai -1,54%, Azimut -0,54%, Snam -0,45%, Salvatore Ferragamo -0,19%.
