With two months to go until the end of 2023, the Italian stock exchange remains the best in Europe: since the beginning of the year Ftse Eb, the main index of Business Square, gained 15,10%, much more than the Euro Stoxx 50 (+5,82%), Paris (+4,97%), Frankfurt (+5,49%) and Madrid (+8,38, XNUMX%), not to mention London and Zurich which are in negative territory. On international markets only the Nasdaq (+ 20,53%) and the Nikkei of Tokyo (+18,77%) did better. But, with the complicity of inflation and devaluation, the best stock market in the world is currently the Turkish one which has gained 39,88% since the beginning of the year.
What gave a boost to Piazza Affari, beyond the swing that accompanied the 2023 trading, were above all the construction-related stocks (also due to the effect of the Super bonus which however cost the state coffers an incredible amount), the car and obviously the commercial banks, which have benefited and are benefiting from the rise in interest rates ECB which revived the interest margin and made profits soar (+14% in 2023 versus +9% in 2022).
Persistent inflation, still high rates, the looming public debt and the uncertainties about the economic prospects linked to the ongoing double conflict (Russia-Ukraine and Hamas-Israel) have, however, for some time now induced managers and savers to move towards bond market due to the high yields offered by government bonds but also by corporate bonds in America as in Europe. This opens the eternal derby between stocks and bonds which, even more so these days, recommends balanced portfolios.
