Closure in negative territory for the European stock exchanges pending the ECB meeting on Thursday and after the disappointing US data from the Ism services index, at its lowest since 2010. The Ftse Mib closed the session at a low weighed down by banks and oil companies. Banco Popolare is the worst stock and loses 2,5%, followed by Bpm -2,38%, Tenaris -2,09%, Intesa Sanpaolo -2,02% and Bper -1,8%. Going against the trend at the top of the basket of blue chips Unipol +1,42%, Unipolsai +1,38%, Stm +1,3%, Leonardo +0,68% after signing a letter of approval with the Polish company Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa intent which provides for a long-term strategic collaboration in the Defense and Security market aimed at strengthening the respective competitive positions on the international market.
Outside the Mib phase, Banca Generali rose by 2,25% after having released data on net inflows. The institute closed the month of August with net inflows of 310 million euros. In Europe, Paris slipped by 0,24%, London -0,78% while Frankfurt registered a +0,14%. In the morning, the Asian stock markets reached new highs for the period thanks to the driving force of oil: Shanghai +0,61%, Hang Seng +0,58%, Nikkei +0,26%. However, after yesterday's rise, triggered by the agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the black gold has deflated. Iran has agreed in principle to an agreement that pushes crude oil prices to between 50 and 60 dollars. Brent closed down by 1,53% at 46,9 dollars a barrel, Wti by 1,66% at 44,44 dollars a barrel.
On the macroeconomic front, the data on the US tertiary sector disappointed. The PMI services index fell to 51,4 points in August, below estimates. On Wall Street, however, the indices are in fractional progress: S&P500 +0,13%, Nasdaq +0,34%, Dow Jones +0,09%.
New conflicting data on the economic situation were released in the Eurozone: Eurozone GDP growth confirmed in the second quarter (+0,3%); Italy's retail PMI slowed down (43,2 compared to France's 54,7) and orders from German industry dropped by 3% on the domestic market while those from abroad rose by 2,5%. Over the year, the GDP of the Eurozone grew by 1,6%. The euro-dollar exchange rate rose by 0,8% to 1,1237 dollars a barrel.
The Btp-Bund spread is 120 points, unchanged from the opening. The yield is at 1,1%. Italian government bonds strengthened in the afternoon in line with sovereign bonds across the euro area. The yield on ten-year Bonos fell below 1 percent, to 0,94%, and the spread with Bunds narrowed to 104 basis points. Yesterday evening the Treasury announced an exchange operation for tomorrow Wednesday 7 September: it will offer up to two billion euros in September 2028 BTPs to investors who will deliver five securities maturing in 2017 and 2018.
