Piazza Affari takes a breather today and closes better than the other European stock exchanges at +0,25%, thanks to the banks and the rebound of Saipem and partially of Fiat. On the other hand, the other European lists were negative: Madrid -0,16%, Frankfurt -0,13%, Paris -0,46% and a sharp drop for London -1,46%, after Prime Minister Theresa May's speech. How "hard" this Brexit will be is not yet fully clear. The British prime minister has officially confirmed his intention to abandon the European single market and its constraints, to which Great Britain does not want to submit, but he has also said that he will seek an ambitious agreement with the European Union, to continue to trade freely with member countries. In fact, the final agreement will also depend on the attitude of the EU and the vote of the British Parliament. Moral: sterling up (+2,8% against the dollar and +1,7% against the euro in mid-afternoon) and the FTSE 100 down.
On the other side of the Atlantic, in the homeland of the American ally, moods dominate today: the dollar is losing ground on all currencies and Wall Street opens negative, perhaps unnerved by the recent utterances of Donald Trump and by the tensions with Beijing, caused by the criticism of the weakness of the yuan. Among the stocks worth mentioning is Reynolds America (+3,6% at the opening): British American Tobacco has in fact announced the purchase of the 57,8% stake it does not yet own in the Camel producer, increasing by over 2 billion dollars the offer in an operation that will see the birth of the world's number one tobacco company
Returning to Milan: the banks are in the foreground, with Bankitalia promoting government action on MPS. "The application of the Legislative Decree to the case of Monte dei Paschi di Siena represents a turning point for the bank and removes, also in the perception of the market, a high risk for the entire system - says Carmelo Barbagallo, head of the banking supervision department and of Bankitalia to the finance commissions of the Senate and the Chamber - solving the problems of the banks involves high costs, which however must be correctly compared with those that would be generated in the event of failure to intervene".
The purchases above all reward Unicredit +3,51%, which concluded an agreement to sell, through the subsidiary Unicredit Bulbank (Bulgaria), a portfolio of non-performing loans deriving from secured/unsecured credit agreements granted to customers belonging to the business segment. The managing director, Jean Pierre Mustier, in an interview with the German press, also announced the stop to the sponsorship of the Champions League.
Money on Ubi, +3,41%, while Bankitalia is deciding on the proposal for the purchase of the three Good Banks (Banca Etruria, Banca Marche and Carichieti). Tonic Banco Bpm (+2,29%), which benefits from the increase in the target price to 3,4 euro with a “buy” rating from Deutsche Bank. Fiat recovers something +1,02%, partially supported by the positive data on new registrations on the European market. In 2016, the group led by Sergio Marchionne recorded growth of 13,7% on an annual basis against +6,5% in the sector. Exor itself: +1,55%.
Saipem is recovering (+2,14%), while oil remains undecided on the path to take (Brent -0,04%, 55,84 dollars a barrel) despite new and reassuring statements on cuts by Saudi Arabia. Fractional rise of Eni +0,45%, which announced the discovery of a new field in the Norwegian Sea. Rear lights Buzzi (-1,62%) and Telecom Italia (-1,7%).
Realizations on Luxottica -0,84%, after yesterday's boom. The patron Leonardo Del Vecchio, in an interview with Corsera, argues that the delisting from Milan is not yet obvious. “The double listing in Italy and in France – he says – is an option still on the table that we will evaluate in the next few days, as well as the listing on the American market”.
Out of the main list we note Bologna's Marconi Airport (+4,42%), after yesterday's good performance (+2,5%). Since the beginning of the year, the stock has already gained more than 20%, outperforming the reference sector, unchanged, and the index of the Star segment (+3,5%). On other markets, note the performance of Lufthansa (+4,68%) on the Dax 30, in the wake of rumors of a possible entry of Etihad into the capital.
As far as the Italian secondary is concerned, the spread between the 10-year BTP and the Bund is a few steps forward: +0,38 to 159.40 basis points, 1,91% yield. In the meantime it has arrived the letter from the EU where it reads: "additional budgetary measures would be necessary to obtain a structural effort of at least 0,2% of GDP to avoid the opening of an excessive deficit procedure".
Gold growing: +0,92%, at 1214.238 dollars an ounce. Euro-dollar ratio: +0,97% and back to 1,07.
