Session dedicated to buying on the European markets, encouraged in the afternoon by the positive start of Wall Street, by a hesitant dollar and by the growth of oil. The closing is sharply up for all the main lists of the Old Continent, while the key event of the day will be, in the next few hours, the press conference by Jerome Powell at the end of the Fed meeting.
Milan rises by 1,44% and resumes its march towards 26 points (the final figure is 25.717) with banks and oil stocks up sharply. The spread falls below one hundred, to 99 basis points. Paris +1,29% and London +1,47% are also largely positive, while gains are fractional in Amsterdam +0,78%, Frankfurt +0,98% and Madrid +0,6%.
Overall, Europe celebrates under the motto "I'll think about it tomorrow". In fact, the narrow escape, at least momentary, of Evergrande's bankruptcy ignited the propensity for risk in the morning. The Chinese real estate giant has announced an agreement with its country's bondholders to pay interest on an "onshore" debt that matures tomorrow, the rest (offshore bond) will be seen. Furthermore, the central bank of Beijing has injected huge liquidity into the banking system, to be exact $18,6 billion
There is also an air of postponement with regard to tapering and the eagerly awaited conclusion of the meeting of the US central bank. Most observers think Jerome Powell will talk tonight about the central bank's pledge to cut bond purchases before the end of the year, but won't give precise timing on a stimulus withdrawal start and will be skimpy on details on pace and on the composition of the tapering. Announcements will likely be postponed to November and tapering could kick off in December, also given the disappointing August jobs report.
With this prevailing sentiment the dollar is hesitant against a panel of currencies (-0,11% the greenback index). The euro slightly recovers positions and trades around 1,173. The 1,8-year Treasury yield is down, while gold trades in line with yesterday's close. On the other hand, oil is robust, encouraged both by a more cautious dollar and by the weekly drop in US inventories which is higher than expected. Texan crude was up 71,80% to $XNUMX a barrel.
The progress of black gold encourages purchases of oil stocks in Piazza Affari where Tenaris +5,2% leads the rises of blue chips. Eni also did well, +2,64%, driven by rumors of the possible sale of a stake in the EniPower division. Money returns to the banks: Unicredit (+3,52%) leads the increases in the sector, followed by Bper +2,92%, Banco Bpm +2,58%, Intesa +2,2%. Tonic Mediobanca, +1,41%, while the encirclement of Generali continues +1,47% (of which Piazzetta Cuccia is the main shareholder) by the tandem Del Vecchio-Caltagirone, who continue to round up their shares.
Banca Mediolanum did well +1,76%, which is not affected by the resignation of the founder, Ennio Doris, from the position of president and director, to move to honorary president, given that his son Massimo Doris remains at the helm. Pride of pride in fashion for Moncler +3,19%, in view of a maxi event in the next few days. In the Agnelli galaxy shine Cnh +3,24% and Stellantis +3,24%, flat Ferrari,
Among financial stocks, Nexi is in the red, -1,6%. CEO Paolo Bertoluzzo told reporters that the outcome of the antitrust investigation into the merger with Sia is expected by mid-October and the closing by the end of the year. On the subject of M&A, the manager confirmed his interest in the Greek market. Utilities and pharmaceutical stocks closed down. Among the worst Italgas -1,01%; Terna -1,06%; Recorded -0,94%.
The final is also in green on the secondary: the spread between Italian and German ten-year bonds falls to 99 basis points (-2,42%), with a BTP rate slightly down to +0,66%. The macro news in Europe is mixed today. Eurozone consumer confidence improved in September, although the data remained negative (-4 from -5,3 in August). Market expectations were for worse, while sentiment surpassed pre-Covid levels (same pattern in the EU). Growth forecasts for Germany, compiled by the German economic institute Ifo, are also down, due to supply chain problems and the low availability of chips and other intermediate goods, which slow the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
A few days before the elections and thedefinitive farewell of Angela Merkel, the institute expects Germany's gross domestic product to grow by 2,5% this year, which is 0,8 percentage points less than previous estimates, and by 5,1% in 2022, the 0,8 % more than the last forecast. The smaller-than-expected rebound expected for 2021 follows a 4,6% decline recorded in 2020.
