Banks save Business Square from the pale red that today dyes part of Europe (closing) and the United States (starting up).
The session found some hints of optimism in the January PMIs of the euro area, but it also led to fears that this would strengthen the restrictive policy of the ECB, while hopes on inflation drink from the plunge in the price of gas. However, we are moving with great caution on both sides of the Atlantic, in view of important US macroeconomic data expected this week, quarterly of weight like that of Microsoft (the title moved slightly), which will release the numbers in a few hours and of the next meetings of the central banks, the first of 2023. The forecasts for the Fed and the ECB are diverging and a slowdown in rate hikes is estimated by of the first and the confirmation of the hard line by the second, also in the light of the words of Christine Lagarde of yesterday.
Today, however, the member of the executive committee Fabio Panetta, in an interview, corrected the tack a bit by saying that the European Central Bank shouldn't commit to a specific rate hike beyond February (the meeting is on the 2nd), especially in light of the cautious optimism on inflation.
Milan, +0,25%, stands out Intesa
Il Ftse Eb Milan closes up 0,24% to 25.884 basis points, supported by Intesa, +2,05% (still recovering after yesterday's gains), Unicredit + 1,5% Bper + 1,43% Bpm bank + 1,27% Mediobanca +0,62%. Money up too Prysmian +1,26% and utilities such as A2a + 0,77% Ivy + 0,61% Enel +0,55%. The list is mainly weighed down by energy stocks, such as Saipem -3,35% Eni -1,53% and Tenaris -1,22%. They also retreat Finecobank -1,32% and Telecom -0,96%.
Declining spreads and rates
Movements appear contained on the secondary, but are now favorable to Italian paper. The spread between ten-year BTPs and Bunds with the same duration, it falls by 180 basis points (-2,02%) with declining yields. The BTP is back below 4% at 3,92%, against +2,12% for the Bund.
Mixed closure in Europe; Swatch shines and salmon swim upstream
in the rest of the continent Frankfurt is practically flat, -0,05%, Amsterdam loses 0,2% e London the 0,33. They are positive Paris +0,26% and Madrid +0,25%. Among the various titles it is in light Swatch, +4,86%, which says it is optimistic about the recovery of the Chinese market and shows a 2,5% increase in 2022 sales.
In Oslo (-0,83%) the companies that breed salmon went against the tide (such as Salmar +5,28), probably driven by press rumors about possible adjustments to the proposal to increase taxes on the sector put forward by the centre-left government.
In New York, Wall Street has been moving in fractional decline since the opening and after a technical problem that induced the suspension of dozens of stocks, including Morgan Stanley, Verizon, AT&T, Nike and McDonald's. General Electric loses 1,2% at the NYSE, despite a positive quarterly, while more and more new companies announce massive personnel cuts. Today it's up to 3M (-6%, worst stock on the S&P 500), which has decided to lay off 2500 people.
Euro-dollar stable, gas and oil in reverse
On the foreign exchange market theeuro-dollar is on standby at 1,087, close to a nine-month low for the greenback, awaiting news from central banks.
Today's January eurozone composite PMI suggests that the economy may be better-than-expected this year. The index returned to a slight expansion beyond the threshold of 50 - to 50,2 from 49,3 - as has not happened since last June. The Star Striped Services PMI for January, on the other hand, is beyond the estimates, but touches the seventh month of contraction.
On the energy front, the gas, after the volatile session on the eve of the Dutch Ttf Natural Gas Future in Amsterdam loses almost 12% for a price of around 58 euros per Mwh.
Reverse the Petroleum: Brent -1,02%, $87,29 a barrel; Wti -0,6%, 81,14 dollars a barrel.
