Piazza Affari in free fall and spreads soaring after the explosion of the Coronavirus in Italy. The Milanese stock market opened trading down by 3,5% and as the minutes went by it widened the losses. At 10.30 the red is 4,3% at 23.701 points, after having touched an intraday low of 23.676.
The contagion effect also spreads to other Stock Exchanges. All European indices travel in sharp decline: Paris (-3,13%), Frankfurt (-2,93%), Madrid (-2,82%), London (-2,32%). Asian stock exchanges closed the session negative, penalized by the spread of infections in South Korea (over 600) and by new cases in Israel, Iran and Italy. It is no coincidence that it was above all who suffered Alone, which lost 3,9%.
The caporetto of the markets is also transmitted to the bonds: the difference between the BTP and the Bund it rises by 9,10% to 148 points from 134 on Friday, while the yield on the Italian ten-year bond reaches 0,995%, up by more than 10 percentage points. Tensions also on other markets: the Petroleum dropped almost 3%, thegold goes to the collection, gaining more than 1% to 1.660 dollars an ounce, the highest price in the last seven years.
Returning to Piazza Affari, there is no Ftse Mib stock that has managed to save itself from the Coronavirus effect. At the bottom of the list is the Juventus, which scores -8,8%, followed by Azimuth (-7,24%), Saipem (-6,68%) And Cnh (-6,46%). In deep red also the luxury that after having to deal with Sars-Cov-2 in China is called to face the effects that the virus is having in Italy: Ferragamo (-7,5%), Tod’s (-6%), Moncler (-5,8%), cucinelli (-3,2%).
The banks are very bad, with the sector index exceeding the losses of the Ftse Mib and dropping 4,5%. In red the big names: -4,64% for Intesa Sanpaolo, -5% for Banco Bpm, -3,6% for Unicredit which he has this morning armored ad Jean Pierre Mustier, after rumors of his possible move to HSBC. Down the car: in addition to Cnh, the decline is striking Pirelli (-6,16%) And fca (-4,34%).
According to Equita Sim, the spread of Sars-Cov-2 in Northern Italy will have an impact on the Italian GDP. Analysts see bankers under pressure, but the stocks most at risk are considered those most exposed to the tourism sector and those of companies with activities more concentrated in Northern Italy.
In an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Riyadh G20, the Governor of Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, confirmed the concerns of brokers: the impact of the coronavirus on Italy's GDP, he said, could be higher than 0,2% . The danger of recession therefore seems around the corner.
Important news also comes from Brussels: the EU Commission has allocated 230 million euros to help EU and non-EU countries fight the spread of the coronavirus. This was announced by the European commissioners for health and crisis management, Stella Kyriakides and Janez Lenarcic. This money will be added to the contrast measures implemented by individual countries and to the funding to be allocated to research and the purchase of material that promotes prevention.
The WHO is also on the move: tomorrow, 25 February, a joint mission of the ECDC and WHO will arrive in Italy, "in agreement with the Italian authorities".
