Piazza Affari tries to recover thanks to the reversal of course of some banks and the sprint triggered by the Bpm but fails to close in positive territory, although substantially canceling the losses of the morning closing essentially flat at -0,07%. The spread closes at 272 basis points. The other main European markets are also in red, albeit with fractional reductions: Paris -0,17%, Frankfurt -0,96%, London -0,49%. On the other hand, Madrid rose by 1,1%.
The Chinese difficulties and overall weak US stock prices weigh on the market mood after some disappointing quarterly results and contrasting macroeconomic results: unemployment benefits increased more than expected while durable goods orders did better than expected (in June +4,2, 20%) even if net of transport the index remained unchanged. However, Facebook shines with an increase of over 0,54% after a quarterly performance well beyond market expectations. Oil continues its decline -104,82% to 0,38 dollars a barrel, gold rises by 1.325% to 0,21 dollars an ounce while the euro-dollar exchange rate rises by 1,3229% to XNUMX.
After the positive PMI data from Markit released yesterday, today in Europe the Ifo index which monitors the confidence climate of German businesses rose to 106,2 points in July from 105,9 points in June, marking the third consecutive monthly increase and above analysts' expectations. But the picture on the end of the decline in the Eurozone and on a possible recovery of growth is delicate. Also today, the IMF warned of the "high risk of stagnation" for the Eurozone economy, "especially in the periphery". "If the commitments at national and euro area level are incomplete or do not go ahead - says the IMF - the stresses on the financial markets could also rekindle". In 2013, the IMF expects a 0,6% contraction in GDP for the Eurozone for the second consecutive year. In 2014, then, there will be a modest expansion of 0,9%. The Fund from Christine Lagarde hopes, in terms of monetary policies, "further cuts in interest rates, including the possibility of negative interest on deposits", which "would support demand and help bring inflation back in line with the targets". Furthermore, for the IMF it is crucial to be able to support companies by reducing the cost of loans so as to avoid a further worsening of the macroeconomic outlook”. The ECB could, therefore, provide additional term funding for "weak but solvent" credit institutions through "a new Ltro with a longer duration (3-5 years) together with new measures on collateral". Another way could be the granting of new liquidity destined for SMEs with Ltro auctions made on the British model or with the direct purchase of private securities, thus bypassing the banking system.
In Piazza Affari the banks partially recovered in the session after the cut in the S&P ratings yesterday evening even if the sector closed in contrast: Banco Popolare -1,27%, Ubi Banca -1,46%, Intesa -0,28% Mps unchanged while Unicredit +0,20%. On the other hand, Bpm shines +2% driven by renewed pressure from Bankitalia for the transformation into a Spa. The Bank of Italy, which concluded the inspection of Piazza Meda, has invited the top management of Bpm to resume discussions on the transformation of the cooperative into a Spa From what has been learned, the inspection closed like last time with a partially unfavorable judgment: on a scale from 1 to 6, where 6 is the lowest level, the score was 4. Furthermore, the the supervisory board, again from what has been learned from financial sources, has opened a sanctioning procedure against the members of the supervisory board of Banca Popolare di Milano for interference in matters falling within the competence of the management board.
However, the best stock on the Ftse Mib is Mediobanca +2,10%, followed by Gtech +2,07%. Atlantia +1,54% and Azimut +1,13% also performed well, which today released the accounts for the first half of the year which recorded consolidated revenues of 226,5 million (compared to 214,2 million in the same period last year) and a net profit of 78,3 million (from 79,1 million) with assets under management at the end of June of 19 billion. The company then bought 51% of Augustum Opus Sim, an independent management company with offices in Milan and Perugia and assets of just over 800 million, for 10 million euros and will rise to 100%.
Telecom Italia closes unchanged after the first go of Agcom to the unbundling of the network which established that the unbundling proposal "meets the requirements established by the Guidelines of Berec, the body of EU regulators, on the matter of functional separation". Among the worst on the Ftse Mib Diasorin -2,03%, Ferragamo -1,89%, Campari -1,64%, Tenaris -1,49%.
