European stock markets barely moved, in a day of thin trading: after small ups and downs, Milan stops in negative territory at 0,18%, with utilities on the rise and the popular banks that sink back to the bottom of the list. The other markets: Frankfurt -0,3%; Paris, -0,31% and Madrid -0,23%. Flat calm in London, but plus sign ahead +0,06%.
Shy Wall Street opens positively, then changes course mid-day. Among the individual stocks, we note, at the beginning, the collapse of Cempra (-50,66% to 66,1 dollars), after the announcement that the Food and Drug Administration rejected its antibiotic to treat pneumonia. On the macro front: weekly applications for unemployment benefits are down in the US, while crude stocks are increasing, contrary to expectations. Brent reversed course after a positive day and fell by 0,02% to 56,95 dollars a barrel. Gold is appreciated, which rises by 1,43%. Euro recovering against the dollar, +0,67%, traded at 1,048. Spreads without major movements.
Returning to Piazza Affari: the utilities shine, among which Terna +2,14%, Italgas +0,87% and Snam +0,98% stand out. Also in the light were Moncler (+1,16%), Recordati +1,20%, Enel +0,53%, which in the morning reached 4,178 euros, a new intraday high since August last year. However, these titles are not enough to offset the sales which once again affect the banking sector, even if it is orphaned, even today, of MPS. The Popolare di Milano -3,5% and Banco Popolare -3,76% remain in check, which will debut on the list, in the new single guise of Banco BPM on 2 January.
Down 3,13% Ubi, which is working on the binding offer for the three good banksconditional on a series of steps including the transfer, by the three institutions, of non-performing loans for over 2 billion euro to the Atlante fund. According to press sources, Atlante approved its offer for two-thirds of these problematic loans today.
Unicredit -1,87 and Intesa -0,82% lose ground, which sold a real estate portfolio worth around 500 million to the Yielding Fund. These are 26 properties for office and branch use within a sale leaseback transaction which provides for the continued use of the properties by the institution through the stipulation of long-term contracts (12 years renewable for another 6).
Down Mediaset (-0,54%), but the spotlights remain on the Berlusconi galaxy, given that Mondadori (+6,93%) today figures among the most exuberant titles on Piazza Affari. Fractional discounts for Telecom -0,12% and Unipolsai -0,47% which stipulated the deed of merger by incorporation of Dialogo with effect from 31 December. sales on Tenaris -1,57%.
2017 is coming and the stock market lacks fireworks, but not news. From 2 January Brembo will be one of the big 40 of Piazza Affari. The share had left the basket following the spin-off of Italgas from Snam and is the first "reserve" of the Ftse Mib in a list that includes Hera, Anima Holding and Diasorin The other revisions of the indices concern the Ftse Italia Mid Cap from which it comes Brembo itself was canceled and Juventus Football Club will enter.
We close with a kind of Bag of happiness, apparently growing worldwide, but not exuberant in Italy. According to Win/Gallup International, the world's largest network of independent research institutes, 68% of the world's population claims to be happy with their life (up from 66% in 2015), while 22% are neither happy nor unhappy and 9% are not happy. Even in Italy we are a little happier than last year, but less than the others, 46%, up slightly (+2%). The happiest peoples are those from countries that see growth prospects ahead of them, because money doesn't bring happiness, but it helps and especially those who don't have it know it. In order Fiji Islands, China, Philippines, Vitenam, Panama, Indonesia and Paraguay, while Iraq is at the bottom of the ranking. In terms of economic prospects alone, Italy is the least optimistic of the 66 countries analysed.
