Italy, once again in seclusion, shines among the stock lists: better than China, more committed to curbing the real estate bubble than financing fintech initiatives, more than the rest of Europe, albeit positive. The markets have decided that Italy, after difficult years marked by several false starts, is once again deserving of trust. On the contrary, Mario Draghi's vaccination plan which foresees that 80% of Italians will be immunized by September with an acceleration of vaccinations starting from mid-April deserves the utmost confidence, to the point that, after the 5% increase last week (+9,60% from the beginning year) the main index of the Milan stock exchange started this morning to attack now forgotten peaks: after having surpassed the 24 thousand points by momentum (24.300 points at 12), the next milestone is 25, a peak that has not been touched since the beginning of 2020.
Leonardo took care of bringing the target closer. The former Finmeccanica has just announced the launch of the IPO on the minority stake of the subsidiary Drs listed on Wall Street. The Defense group will offer 31,9 million shares on the market in a price range between 20 and 22 dollars. Leonardo Us Holding also provides for the offer to subscribers of a further quota of 4,785 million shares at the same price in the following 30 days. At the end of the deal, the Italian defense holding will hold 78% of DRS (74,7% in the event of full exercise of the purchase option) which will ask for admission to Wall Street. In total, an 807 million dollar operation that will serve to improve Leonardo's debt position (+1,9% at 13pm) but also to finance new initiatives by the defense company, probably on the European front.
Even so, the confirmation is found stock market recoveryafter a long hibernation. Piazza Affari, the expression of an economy nailed down for ten years and more, is moving on the wave of what is not a boom, but has the flavor of a "sweet awakening" made possible both by Draghi medicine and by overcoming the rules of fiscal compact and from the perspective of the arrival of funds from the Recovery Fund. The only unknown factor on the path of the Ftse Mib, at this point, seems to be represented by thehypothesis of a new sharp increase in US bond rates at the Fed meeting. But it seems impossible that the US central bank wants to interrupt the rise just triggered by the US vote on economic stimuli. And meanwhile the yield of the ten-year BTP remains at 0,613% with the Btp/Bund spread practically stable at 92,8 basis points: most investors are already taking for granted a situation of return to normal, with rising rates, but the trend will no longer damage the treasury title.
In short, many elements, not least the recovery of energy stocks and the good health of the dollar, conspire to favor a rebound of the Italian blue chips, within the rotation of portfolios which, finally, plays in favor of the Italian Stock Exchange. In fact, cyclical sectors are leading the race. the car, drugged by Stellantis' extraordinary dividend but also by the recovery in demand: the banks, up five weeks out of six, with a performance that pushes the FTSE Italian Banks index to new twelve-month highs. And the list continues with luxury and retail plus other sectors damaged by the lockdown. Even telecommunications, one of the most neglected sectors, is back in motion: the European telecommunications sector completed the best week since March 2020 with a gain of 6,50% against the +4,40% recorded by the global Stoxx.
The reasons? The recovery of latecomers rewarded a "cheap" sector with a P/O of 16 times but also one of the most remunerative in terms of dividends, with an average Yield of 4,20%.
