The Impregilo stock is on the stock exchange, earning more than 4 points by mid-morning, clearly leading the Ftse Mib. Salini has announced that it has acquired another 0,3% stake in the group, bringing its overall stake to 22,4%. Furthermore, according to the latest press rumors, the company's consultants would be evaluating the possibility of issuing a bond and the hypothesis of a takeover bid would no longer be so far off. Only yesterday Impregilo sold 2,5% to Piazza Affari following the article in Il Sole 24 which states that Gavio has no intention of launching a takeover bid on the company.
CELEBRATION OF WALL STREET: S&P OVER 1.400, APPLE OVER 600. INTESA'S CLEANING HAS NO IMPACT ON THE DIVIDEND. THE EUROPEAN OSCAR TO THE BTP
Today, barring surprises, Wall Street will celebrate the conclusion of the best week since the beginning of the year. The party was anticipated by Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),, which rose to an all-time high above $600, up almost 2% since yesterday's close and around 60% since mid-December. For the first time since June 2008, the S&P index leaps above 1.40. Suddenly within a couple of weeks the world of stock exchanges seems to have become a safer place: after the good news on sovereign debts, the agreement on Greece, it's up to the confirmation of the recovery underway in the USA.
From weekly data released by the Department of Labor It emerges that claims for unemployment benefits have fallen to their lowest levels in the last four years. Manufacturing activity data for New York and the mid-Atlantic region (Philadelphia Fed index) also showed improvement. The result is that the Standard & Poor's 500 has broken through the barrier of 1.400 points (1402 +0,60%) for the first time since June 2008. Dow Jones +0,44% and Nasdaq +0,51% are also up.
The reaction of the Asian markets. The indications coming from Wall Street were balanced by the effects of the revaluation of the yen on Tokyo's exports and by the uncertainties about Beijing's monetary choices. The Nikkei index climbs 0,02%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng falls 0,25%.
Meanwhile, the day of the legitimate pride of government bonds was celebrated in Italy. Speaking in the Chamber, Prime Minister Mario Monti was able to underline that "an ECB study shows that since November the decrease in Italian interest rates has been the highest among those of the various European countries", said the premier. Merit of Mario Draghi's decisions, of course, but "the two repurchase agreements of the ECB cannot alone justify Italy's better performance in terms of falling yields paid on public debt", down from the all-time high of 576 basis points reached in november, the spread has now fallen below 300 basis points.
Yesterday the Btp-Bund spread settled at 290 points after having touched 283, while the yield on Italian bonds stood at 4,82%. The differential between 26-year Treasury bills and the corresponding Berlin bonds thus touches the lowest threshold in the last seven months: a level of the kind not seen since 2011 August 319. Meanwhile, the spread between Bonos and Bund widens, to XNUMX points.
In Piazza Affari the big one the protagonist of the day was Banca Intesa, which rose by 4%, after the announcement of the 2011 results, closed with a loss of 8,1 billion euros after the accounting clean-up operation for 8,1 billion. The shareholders will receive a dividend of 5 cents. Worthy of note is the jump in savings shares + 9,1%, after the managing director, Enrico Cucchiani, said that this category of shares makes capital inefficient. The bet on a possible conversion has started on the market, even if Cucchiani specified that at the moment the bank does not think of undertaking any initiative. Among the other banks, Banca Popolare dell'Emilia fell by 1,5%, Banco Popolare closed unchanged, Unicredit gained 1,2%. Sharply down Pop. Milan -1,5%.
Key day for the Fonsai-Unipol match. Today Premafin's board of directors will have to rule on the extension of Palladio-Sator's offer and the solicitation made by Unipol for the holding company to define the proposal with the exclusive rights granted to the Bologna-based group. Yesterday the board of Fonsai confirmed the amount of 1,1 billion of the next capital increase.
From what emerges from the guidelines of Unipol's industrial plan, the new Unipol-Fonsai pole should achieve a profit of €2015 billion in 1 and have a solvency ratio of 150%.
Technological stocks stand out on the European lists (Stoxx sector index +1,1%). StM stands out in Milan +5% on the rumors of a possible sale of the subsidiary St-Ericsson entrusted to the care of the group financial director, Angelo Ferro. The main customer, Nokia, meanwhile, gained 1,3%.
They rely on crude oil prices the hopes of Republican candidates for the White House to contest the seat of Barack Obama in Novemberafter the economy rallied in favor of the incumbent president. Challenger Newt Gingrich promises gasoline at $2,5 a gallon versus current prices above $4. The president runs for cover by leaking the news that the US and the UK have agreed to release part of the strategic reserves of crude oil to calm oil prices. Brent fell 1% to 123 dollars a barrel, WTI lost only 0,3% to 105 dollars. The news weighed on Big Oil's prices. In Paris Total fell by 0,5%, in London BP fell by 1,2%, in Amsterdam Royal Dutch Shell lost 1%.
In reverse, Eni closed positive +0,4% after the announcement of the management, on the occasion of the presentation of the new industrial plan, that the company also confirms the dividend policy for the next few years. Eni today presented the new industrial plan, focused on the development of the upstream: 59,6 billion will be invested in 2015 in particular for projects in Iraq, Venezuela, the North Sea and Kashagan and the start-up in Mozambique with an average annual growth in the production of hydrocarbons by 3% for the next few years and also in 2021. Both Snam and the equity investment in the Portuguese Galp are now considered assets ready to be sold.
Speaking of Snam, Scaroni said among other things: “The sale must bring benefits to Eni's shareholders; it must protect the interests of Snam's shareholders, limiting the possible effects of an overhang and it must strengthen Eni's balance sheet". As is well known, there are two options: a placement of Snam shares, the most pleasing to the six-legged dog, or the distribution of shares to shareholders, preferred by Vittorio Grilli, deputy minister of the economy. “We are indifferent to whatever solution will be taken. The important thing is to hurry” reiterated the representative of the activist fund Knight Vinke, a major ENI shareholder.
Bad day for Finmeccanica -1% and Fiat Industrial -0,9%. Fiat +0,02% balanced on the eve of today's meeting between Prime Minister Mario Monti and the Elkann-Marchionne partnership in which the top management of Lingotto will reaffirm their intention to continue investing in the group's Italian plants. Meanwhile, the strike by the car transporters has also paralyzed production at Poigliano, the only plant operating at full capacity.
Impregilo fell by 2,5% after thearticle in Il Sole 24 Ore which states that Gavio has no intention of launching a takeover bid on the company. Salini, however, rounds off his position with another 0,2% while the newspapers speak of disagreements between the various branches of the family.
