Unicredit accounts guarantee a sparkling start of Piazza Affari. Milan, +0,73%, is by far the liveliest thanks to the boost from the banking sector.
The Chinese New Year week opens under the banner of fireworks: theCSI 300 index of the Shanghai and Shenzhen lists gains 1,7%, from the -2% drop last night. L'Shanghai Composite index it is up 0,2%. Shenzen Composite -1,5%, from -5% tonight. Hang Seng of Hong Kong +0,2%.
Le US stock exchanges, In the end. they start again with an enviable, downside-proof gift: the aggregate Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft has achieved a valuation of ten trillion dollars in capitalization with Friday's increases. Among the titles, the +20% Meta and +8,5% from Nvidia, which thanks to the boom in artificial intelligence has managed to capitalize the record figure of 1.634 billion. No signs of reversal of the bullish trend.
I financial markets they look like this after a roaring week held back by Jerome Powell: The Fed president went on television to explain to Americans that the reduction in interest rates should not be in March, but in any case it will not be much later in the year .
Frankfurt runs, Milan more
Given these signals, the futures on the European stock exchanges and on Wall Street showed little change. Of note in Europe is the recovery of Frankfurt Stock Exchange: for the first time above 17 thousand. worth mentioning is that FTSEMIB closed the week with a +1,1%, which brought the values back to less than one percentage point from the record of the last 15 years. The Milan Stock Exchange, on the other hand, is launched towards new goals which advances by almost one percentage point in the pre-opening index.
The US job market is racing
On the other side of the Atlantic, no one, or almost no one, believes in the arrival of a recession anymore. The dollar fluctuates at two-month highs, after having achieved three positive weeks in a row, the last one +0,7%. Friday's US data set surprised even the most optimistic. THE new non-farm jobs they amounted to 353.000, many more than consensus expectations of 185.000. The previous month the change was +333.000, a figure revised significantly upwards from +216.000. The unemployment rate it remained at December levels at 3,7%, against an expected worsening of 3,8%. The average hourly wage also rose significantly, +0,6% month on month, from +0,4%, against an expected +0,3%.
THEconsumer confidence index from the University of Michigan rose in January to 79: economists were expecting a confirmation of the December figure, just below. The current condition component worsens, the outlook sub-index improves. Inflation expectations are stable. Investors are now pricing in a very low chance of a Fed rate cut in March and have also reduced expectations for a cut in May. Several analysts now move the first cut only to June.
Roller coaster in China, squeeze on commissions in Seoul
The second week of February begins in Asia Pacific with a lot of volatility in the stock market of China. The CSI 300 index of the Shanghai and Shenzhen lists gains 1,7%, from -2% tonight. The Shanghai Composite index rose 0,2%. Shenzen Composite -1,5%, from -5% tonight. Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0,2%.
Yesterday the China Securities Regulatory Commission guaranteed that it will intervene to prevent abnormal fluctuations, driving more funds into the market and cracking down on illegal activities, including short selling and insider trading. Beijing authorities once again attempted to stabilize the stock market with an impromptu statement, but the warning "does not touch on fundamental problems, such as lack of confidence and huge economic uncertainty," he said. Shen Meng, director of the investment bank Chanson & Co. “These are the problems that cause the abnormal market fluctuations.”
THEKospi index of Seoul loses 0,5% also due to the weakness of the banks: the sector supervisory authority has warned that the commissions applied on services are in some cases too high, the same also happens in the characteristic lending activity, the spread paid by the customer is often too high.
THENikkei index of Tokyo closes up 0,5% thanks to the boost from the exchange rate. Dollar yen cross at 148,4 this morning from 146,4 at Thursday's close. The dollar has returned to the levels of the beginning of the year.
Gold is weak, oil is rising
Gold falling to $2.020 per ounce following surprisingly robust data on the US labor market, which dampened expectations of a rapid decline in the cost of money. Despite the decline in the last two sessions, the balance of the week was positive (+1%) because widespread geostrategic tensions fuel purchases of safe haven assets.
Oil on the rise by 0,5%, from -7,4% last week, driven by growing expectations of a lasting truce in Israel with Hamas. Washington has pledged to launch further strikes against Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, as Ukrainian drones hit southern Russia's largest refinery.
Unicredit superstar, maneuvers on Stellantis
All crazy about Unicredit which closes the fourth quarter with an accounting result of 2,8 billion euros, net result of 1,9 billion, almost twice what the consensus expected. Net revenues equal to 5,7 billion. Net interest income increased by 5,7% year-on-year to 3,6 billion, "mainly due to higher rates and good management of deposit pass-through," the note reads. Commissions stood at 1,8 billion, down 0,6% year-on-year, “mainly due to the impact of commission reductions on current accounts in Italy and higher securitization costs”. Loan adjustments stood at 300 million, at a Cost of Risk (“CoR”) of 28 basis points.
Generali: JP Morgan revises the target price slightly upwards to 24 euros.
stellantis: The French government is considering a merger with Renault to increase its grip on the sector by countering Chinese and German competition and to make it more expensive for Italy to buy a stake in the Franco-Italian company, according to The messenger on Sunday citing financial sources. A spokesperson for Stellantis said: “We do not comment on Il Messaggero's unfounded speculation.”
Tim: the government is considering whether to try to open a discussion with Vivendi again, organizing a meeting to find a point of sharing in order to avoid a clash at the assembly on 23 April for the renewal of the group's board, he writes Milano Finanza, citing sources close to Palazzo Chigi. The telephone operators alternative to Tim have written to the European Union competition supervisory authority raising the alarm that, as conceived, the sale of Tim's fixed network could present anti-competitive profiles to the detriment of the former monopolist's competitors . He wrote it The Sun 24 hours Saturday. Second The print on Sunday the EU Antitrust could dictate longer than expected times for its approval for the sale of the fixed network.
Intesa Sanpaolo: for Intrum, which considers Italy one of its four main markets that it has no intention of leaving, Intesa is a “key customer”. This was stated by Andres Rubio, president and CEO of the Swedish company a The Sun 24 hours on Saturday, adding that it also evaluates M&A transactions, but selectively in the country. The outgoing president of Compagnia di San Paolo, Francesco Profumo, is ready to evaluate the candidacy for the presidency of the bank if proposals are made to him, he said in an interview with Corriere della Sera on Sunday.
Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Unipol: the bank and its shareholder could draw up a joint list for the appointment of the bank's five directors whose mandate expires at the end of April, according to The Sun 24 hours e The messenger on Saturday, citing comments by the bank's managing director Mario Alberto Pedranzini.
Enel: Italy will invest, through Pnrr funds, 90 million euros in gigafactory in Catania for the production of photovoltaic cells and modules of Enel, said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday at the end of her visit to the plant.
sapphire has signed an agreement to acquire a minority stake in Spaarkly, a digital native company specialized in the development of innovative e-commerce solutions through augmented reality technology.
Maire Tecnimont has closed a contract for the construction of a green hydrogen production plant in Portugal.
