In the first five months of 2020, the shares of Italian banks listed on the stock exchange they lost 8 percentage points less than the sector average in the Eurozone. The gap is significant, but still little consolation, given the extent of the collapse caused by the coronavirus.
From the last Annual report of the Bank of Italy it emerges that, between the end of 2019 and 19 May 2020, our country's bank shares have sunk by 39%, against the -47% recorded on average by the sector in the whole currency area.
In both cases, the shares of the banks suffered falls much higher than those of the general indices (where, moreover, the balance of power is reversed). Indeed, in the same period, Piazza Affari sank by about 27%, while the average of euro area price lists recorded -22%.
At the Eurozone level, therefore, banks have lost more than double compared to the stock markets as a whole, because "the prospects of credit companies are more exposed to the impact of the pandemic containment measures", explains Bank of Italy.
However, if we restrict the analysis to the period between 21 February and 18 March, the differences between Italy and the Eurozone are narrowing: the general index of the Italian Stock Exchange records a drop of 38%, in line with the main countries of the Eurozone, while Italian bank shares show a drop of 44%, slightly less compared to the currency area average.
After that, "in the second half of March – the Bank of Italy recalls again – share prices in our country and in the euro area were supported by monetary policy and public finance measures, as well as by signs of a slowdown in the epidemic”. To April, on the other hand, “a new weakening has occurred, due to the growing uncertainty about longer-term profitability”.
All while "volatility - concludes Bankitalia - has exceeded the values reached during the global financial crisis" of 2008-2009.
