The weekend was enlivened by the appointment of Scott Bessent driving the Tesoro of the United States: Donald Trump’s pick for Janet Yellen’s job is being viewed with relief that he is a mainstream candidate and not an unknown. Bessent’s “hawkish” sound was enough to push 6-year Treasury yields down 3 basis points, although it remains to be seen whether he can reduce deficits while renewing expiring tax cuts. In several media appearances, he has spoken of reducing the budget deficit to XNUMX% of GDP and tackling the US debt mountain, ostensibly by cutting spending and boosting economic growth,
Bessent spoke out in favor of the duties, suggesting that they should be targets “to be established gradually”, while the tariff levels mentioned, such as 60% on Chinese products, were “maximalist” positions that could be watered down. He also expressed support for a strong dollar, apparently in opposition to President-elect Donald Trump's earlier attempt to devalue the dollar to reduce trade deficits.
Wall Street closed higher on Friday, with all three major indexes posting weekly gains, as investors took comfort from data pointing to solid economic activity in the world's largest economy.
This week the focus will be on the evolution of the interest rates, noting the tone of the minutes from the latest Fed meeting as well as the October inflation data from the US and Europe.
Asian stocks rise, India rebounds
Most Asia Pacific stocks rose on news of Bessent's US Treasury pick. Tokyo's Nikkei rose 1%, while the yen appreciated to 154,2. Seoul's KOSPI rose 1,2%. Jakarta Composite rose 1,5%. Gold loses 1,5%, from +4,9% last week.
The BSE Sensex index of Mumbai, gains 1,7%, after Friday's 2,6% gain, its best two-day performance since early June. Indian stocks had slipped into negative territory earlier this month. The rebound is being driven by politics: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance has won a landslide victory in the nation's richest state, Maharashtra. The win ensures political continuity in the state that is home to India's financial powerhouse Mumbai and many of the country's biggest investments. "This result will have a positive impact on investor sentiment, especially in the infrastructure, urban development and manufacturing sectors, which are aligned with the BJP's policies," said Palka Arora Chopra, director at Master Capital Services.
Instead, the Hang Seng falls Hong Kong and the CSI 300 of Shanghai and Shenzhen: the first of 0,4% and the second of 0,7%. The central bank of China confirmed the one-year interest rates. The People's Bank of China (PBoC) injected a total of 900 billion yuan into the financial system through a one-year medium-term credit facility (MLF) at an unchanged rate of 2,0%. This compares with a total of 1,45 trillion yuan in MLF loans maturing this month, marking a drain of 550 billion. This marks the second consecutive month of rates on hold after a record 30 basis point cut in September, along with a series of support measures to bolster the economy.
European stocks seen on the rise: Unicredit-Banco Bpm in focus
European stocks are expected to open higher, EuroStoox 50 index futures up 0,7%. EuroStoxx 50 index futures up 0,5%. Frankfurt Dax futures up 0,4%. Milan's FTSEMIB closed Friday up 0,4%. The euro bounces against the dollar after eight consecutive weeks of depreciation, a sequence not seen in over a year.
Unicredit - Banco BPM All attention will be focused on the public tender offer announced this morning by Orcel for 10,1 billion. The offer, which is "independent and autonomous" from the investment made in Commerzbank, aims to strengthen UniCredit's position in Italy, "creating an even stronger second bank", the bank in Piazza Gae Aulenti said. The exchange ratio has been set at 0,175 newly issued UniCredit shares for each existing Banco Bpm share, which implies an implicit offer price of 6,657 per share and a premium of approximately 0,5% compared to last Friday's official prices, UniCredit said in a note.
Unipol is among the many financial sector stocks that could move this morning, due to the fallout from the launch of the takeover bid on Banco BPM. Others are Bper Banca, Monte Paschi.
Eni launched the hull of the floating liquefied natural gas production unit Nguya Flng at the Wison shipyard in Nantong on Saturday. With a liquefaction capacity of 2,4 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa), alongside the current Flng Tango, Nguya Flng will bring the total liquefaction capacity of the Congo Lng project to 3 Mtpa by the end of 2025.
EnelCEO Flavio Cattaneo purchased additional shares in Enel (200.000 shares) and its subsidiary Endesa (250.000) between November 19 and 21, a statement said.
Saint Lawrence, as part of its share buyback program, announced that, between 18 and 22 November 2024, it purchased a total of 56.234 ordinary shares at an average price of 31,55 euros per share, for a total value of 1.774.417,80 euros.
Cir, begins a partial voluntary takeover bid on 12,5% of the capital of the same company; ends on December 13.
Dovalue, capital increase begins; ends December 12. Rights will be negotiable until December 6
Landi renzo, capital increase begins; ends December 9. Rights will be tradable until December 3.
Talea Group, capital increase begins; ends December 12. Rights will be tradable until December 6.
Visibilia Publisher, begins capital increase; ends December 9. There is no trading of rights because the shares are currently suspended.
