Business Square regains strength managing to close, after a day in swing, in positive territory. Milan rose by 0,4% to the highs of mid-March driven by banks, thanks to the green light from Consob for the publication of the Banca Popolare di Vicenza prospectus and the start of operations of the Atlante fund. Contrasted by the other European markets: Frankfurt up +0,14%, while Paris -0,20% and London -0,45% lose ground.
As expected, the ECB left interest rates unchanged at today's meeting. In press conference the president of the ECB Mario Draghi ruled out the "helicopter money" hypothesis and bluntly replied to the controversies sparked by Wolfgang Schaeuble: "We continue to expect that rates will remain at current levels or even lower for an extended period of time - said the ECB president at the end of the Governing Council which on Thursday confirmed euro rates at an all-time low – well beyond the horizon of our asset purchases”, currently scheduled for September 2017. The ultra-expansionary monetary policy has been strongly criticized in recent days in Germany by the German finance minister and a large part of the political class and public opinion. The euro-dollar exchange rate is trading at parity at 1,130205.
Lo BTP-Bund spread it closed down by 122 points and a yield of 1,46%. The Ministry of the Economy has arranged for the issue of six-monthly securities for a countervalue of 6 billion for the BoT auction at the end of the month. It was a tracking day for oil with WTI slipping 0,68% to 43,88 dollars a barrel and Brent 0,87% to 45,4 dollars a barrel. US President Barack Obama announced in Ryad the start of a high-level dialogue with the Gulf monarchies, centered on the "regulation" of the fall in oil prices.
A Wall Street indices are moving weakly. On the macroeconomic front, the data is mixed. Initial jobless claims fell to their lowest since 1973, -6 claims to 247. The April Philadelphia Fed Index came in worse than expected at -1,6. The super-index on the economy calculated by the Conference Board rose by 0,2% to 123,4 points in March, below the expectations of analysts, who had expected growth of 0,4%. On the corporate front, good quarterly data from General Motors was recorded with profits more than doubled and better than forecasts. In addition, the company broke even in Europe.
In Piazza Affari the best titles of the Ftse Mib belong to banking sector: Bper +3,18%, Mediobanca +3,09%, Bmps +2,67%, Bpm +2,49% and Unicredit +2,26%. Consob green light for the publication of the information prospectus of Banca Popolare di Vicenza relating to the public offer for subscription and admission to trading of its ordinary shares.
Meanwhile, the operation of the Atlas Fund. The asset management company Quaestio Capital Management has in fact exceeded in a few days the minimum threshold of formal commitments envisaged by the regulation to subscribe shares of the Fund, collecting subscriptions for an amount of over 4 billion euros from 44 Italian and foreign institutions which include institutions banks and insurance companies, banking foundations and Cassa depositi e prestiti. The Atlante fund was defined by Mario Draghi during the ECB press conference as "a small step in the right direction" to help banks in crisis.
At the bottom of the Ftse Mib le utility: Snam -4,03%, worst stock after Ubs analysts cut their judgment on the aNeutral stock from Buy keeping the target price at 5,3 euros. Citigroup analysts also cut their rating to Neutral. Terna also down -2,13%. As well as Ferragamo -2,59%, Yoox -1,63% and Poste Italiane -1,45%. Mediaset weak -0,4% on the Stock Exchange after the Antitrust fine of 51,4 million euros at the end of the investigation into football TV rights.
The arrival at Piazza Affari is scheduled for May 3 Technogym. This was announced by the president and CEO of the company, Nerio Alessandri, on the occasion of the listing roadshow. The institutional placement concerns 50 million ordinary shares equal to 25% of the company's capital (28,75% in the event of full exercise of the greenshoe) and will end on April 28th.
