Stock Exchange, sixth consecutive rise for Piazza Affari: banks still protagonists

For the sixth day in a row, the Italian stock exchange closes in progress thanks mainly to the rises of the banks (from Bper to Ubi, Bpm and, of course, to Unicredit and Intesa) – Rcs also returns to sparkle – Exploit by Gabetti and Maire Tecnimont – A report sinks Tod's – The performance of the other European lists is also positive – Apple supports the Nasdaq.

And you are. Piazza Affari, driven by the (finally) positive nights arriving from the Eurozone, scored a new increase. The FtseMib index rose 1,26% to 16.442 points, a level it hadn't seen for a month and a half. The other European stock exchanges were also positive, Paris +1%, Frankfurt +0,8%, Madrid +1,5%.

The euro zone manufacturing PMI rose to 50,3 from 48,6 in July as economists expected it to rise to 49,2. The PMI index of service companies is also better than expected.

In Italy, the seasonally adjusted index of retail sales grew by 0,1% in May compared to April, the first increase in 14 months. The Bund Btp spread drops to 272 basis points, a drop of 9 basis points due entirely to the surge in the yield on the 10-year German Bund, +9 basis points to 1,63%. The yield of the 10-year BTP is unchanged at 4,36%.

Wall Street is more cautious, despite Apple's propellant +5,7% after the balance sheet data. The S&P index -0,1% fails to pierce the 17 thousand mark, Dow Jones -0,07%. The Nasdaq is up 0,2%.

New home sales rose 8,3% to 497.000 units in June from 476.000 in May. Economists were expecting 484.000. With this increase, the housing market is back to the levels since May 2008.

Banks in strong evidence: Unicredit +3,1%. For JP Morgan, which confirms the neutral opinion on the stock, the group's profitability could benefit from a lower cost of funding, so much so that an improvement of 50 basis points would increase profits next year by 37%. Intesa +1,6%, Banco Popolare +2%, Ubi Banca +4%, Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna +3,4%.

Fiat goes up +2% thanks to an acceleration in the finale after the good quarterly performance of Ford. Tod's was the worst blue chip with a 4% decline. UBS cut the rating on the stock to "sell" from "neutral" with a target price raised to 104 euros from 102.

In the weak luxury segment Ferragamo -0,2% and Yoox -2,6%. On the contrary, Luxottica +1,2% on the eve of the quarterly. New landslide for Stm- 2,6% after yesterday's -10%. Saipem also holds back -1,8%. Morgan Stanley cut the recommendation to "equalweight" from "overweight". Positive session instead for other blue chips: Telecom Italia +1,6%. Gtech +1%, Mediaset +1,4%. Eni +1,9%. Enel +1,8%. Lastly, there was a new rebound for Rcs +5%.