I US economic data on jobs and real estate they bring the Bull back to the markets. The European stock exchanges close in positive territory after a weak start: Piazza Affari, still the best in Europe, rises by 1,43% driven by the banks and the rally of Mediaset, Fiat and Stm. The BTP-Bund spread drops to 257 basis points. Paris +0,96%, London +0,46% and Frankfurt +0,58%. Next Tuesday, the German government will offer a 10-year inflation-linked bond on the capital market with a raising target of 1 billion euros which will offer an annual coupon of 0,10%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose by 0,42% at the close of Europe and the Nasdaq by 0,40%. The data on initial requests for unemployment benefits and on new construction sites were higher than expected, dispelling at least for now the fears triggered by the World Bank. In detail, initial requests for unemployment benefits in the United States fell over the last week by 37 thousand units to 335 thousand, the lowest figure in the last five years, against expectations of a much more modest drop to 370 thousand. New construction also beat expectations, rising 12,1% in December to an annual rate of 954.
On the quarterly front, most of the companies that published their accounts released numbers that were higher than expected, including the excellent performances of the banks Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan in recent days. Today, however, Citi published a quarterly report that disappointed the market's expectations, while Bofa, despite performing better than expected, recorded a sharply declining profit in the fourth quarter (-63%, mainly due to extraordinary charges linked to a legal dispute with the mortgage giant Fannie Mae and the plea bargaining of the foreclosure case). Both stocks are falling on Wall Street. Boeing's decline continues as it was forced by US aviation safety authorities to ground all its 787 Dreamliners until technical checks were completed.
WTI oil jumped 1,18% to 95,35 dollars a barrel on tensions in the BP field attacked by militants affiliated with Al Qaeda. Now the markets are looking at tomorrow's macro data arriving from China, including the fourth quarter GDP.
Mediaset is confirmed as the best stock on Piazza Affari with a jump of 9,03%: the stock resumed its rally after Credi Suisse improved its rating to outperform from underperform and raised the target price from 2 to 2,65 euros. Fiat leap +6,18%. From QuattroruoteDay Sergio Marchionne states that the problem of production overcapacity in Italy will be resolved by 2016. Stm also performed well +3,58%.
The closing banks increase the day's increases: Ubi Banca +3,43%, Mediobanca +2,95%, Mps +1,81%, Intesa +1,71%, Unicredit +2,41%. Among the most traded stocks by volume, Telecom Italia +1,47% under the spotlight on the day of the board of directors meeting for the sale of Telecom Italia Media. For now everything is postponed to further discussions: the decision should arrive by February 7 when the board of directors' meeting on the group's accounts is on the agenda.
Among the smaller titles highlighted Maire Tecnimont +6,67% following the news that the company has filed an arbitration request against Endesa Chile of the Enel group. On the Ftse Mib, only Tenaris -0,71%, Salvatore Ferragamo -0,51% and Diasorin -0,49% closed in the red
