Having exhausted the driving force of the last few sessions, the European stock markets closed weakly and even Wall Street, after five days of increases, turns red, in view of the results season which begins next week.
Business Square remains on the edge of parity, -0,06%, 19.290 points, also thanks to the help of fca +2,5%. For Milan, the week ends on a high note, with a recovery close to 6%. They do worse Frankfurt -0,31% Paris -0,51% and London -0,35%, while Madrid +0,23% and Zurich +0,25% wear pale green.
What worries the markets are the signs of an economic slowdown, which in this round are coming loud and clear from Europe and also from Italy. Istat announced this morning that Italian industrial production suffered a sharp decline in November, while in December the leading indicator recorded a further decrease, suggesting the continuation of the current weak phase of the Italian economic cycle. For Barclays, the data could indicate a technical recession in the fourth quarter of 2018 and in 2019 the increase in the 2019 GDP could stop at 0,7%.
The freeze was partly expected, given the trend in other European countries as well and does not weigh on bonds, especially after the placement of 6,5 billion BTPs (3-7-30 years) by the Treasury with declining yields . On the secondary, the Italian 2,87-year yield falls to XNUMX% and lo spread with the Bund closing at 263.10 points, -1,05%. Tonight with the markets closed Dbrs will express its opinion on Italian sovereign debt. In July, the Canadian agency confirmed the BBB (high) rating with a stable trend.
In raw materials the Petroleum, Brent, loses 1,91%, 60,05 dollars a barrel, while gold dances just below 1290 dollars an ounce.
Euro down. The exchange rate with the dollar returns below the threshold of 1,15 and moves in the 1,147 area. The greenback is in tune, the day after the new intervention by Fed chairman Jerome Powell, who reaffirmed flexibility and patience in his monetary policy and attention to the upheavals of the economy.
In Piazza Affari, the session is particularly brilliant for FCA, despite a declining auto sector throughout Europe. The Italian-American company triggered the fifth after GM announced that it had raised its 2019 earnings estimates.
Bene Campari + 2,31% Azimuth + 1,58% Mediobanca + 1,25% stm + 1,07%.
Sharply down Brembo, -3,89% and Prysmian -1,81&. Banks down with Bpm bank -2,97% Ubi -3,01% and Bper -1,68%. On the rise instead Unicredit +0,8%, which, according to press sources, could be interested in Banca Carige in the presence of conditions similar to those of the Intesa-Banche Venete operation.
Today the governor Ignazio Visco, without referring to Carige, underlined that public intervention for banks in crisis is appropriate to avoid jeopardizing the stability of the financial system.
