The first day after of Jerome Powell, the new president of the Federal Reserve who made his debut before the US Congress on Tuesday, leaves no particular aftermath on the European stock exchanges. Powell, as expected, confirmed the gradual rise in rates and also better economic growth and greater confidence in achieving inflation targets, e his speech it led to a rise in the dollar and a substantial sell-off in US and Asian equities. While Europe is limiting the damage for now, even if the trend is decidedly towards the "minus" sign.
The worst in the middle of the day is Madrid, while Milan hovers around parity, around 22.700 points. On the Ftse Mib the performance by Salvatore Ferragamo stands out, which rises above 23 euros per share with an advance well over 2% at midday. The Florentine maison has just registered a new earthquake at the summit: CEO Eraldo Poletto, after the drop in turnover and stock market share, announces his resignation after only two years and now the hunt for a new helmsman has begun.
Unipol, Leonardo and Luxottica are also worth mentioning among the best stocks, all bucking the trend with earnings above 1%. Instead, you realize on Campari after Tuesday's rally, which arrived in the wake of the excellent results of 2017, which beat expectations and also saw the dividend for shareholders grow. Today the stock loses more than 3% and is the worst of the Ftse Mib at mid-day. Buzzi, Tenaris and Italgas are also bad, with losses of more than 1%.
Fight the banks: Unicredit gains 0,7%, as does Ubi Banca. Intesa Sanpaolo is up by half a percentage point, while Banco Bpm is in the red like Mediolanum. Speaking of Banco Bpm, the bank said it did not comment on "rumors and indiscretions on any operations attributed to it". Off the main list, Italmobiliare rises by 1%, after the rumors about a possible purchase of a share of Borbone coffee.
Quiet the European bond, with the Btp-Bund spread decreased slightly to 131,4 basis points, despite the threat of the Italian vote which still does not fully reassure the markets. On the currency market, the dollar confirmed its three-week high with the euro dropping to 1,221 (from 1,2233 yesterday evening). The euro/yen is at 130,9 (from 131,5), while the dollar/yen is at 107,2 (from 107,5). Oil still down with Brent down by 0,38% to 66,38 dollars a barrel and Wti at 62,72 dollars a barrel (-0,46%).
On the macro front, US GDP is expected today while in Europe there is news on theinflation. Inflation in the Eurozone is expected to slow down, at the same pace estimated by analysts according to what emerges from the preliminary data published today by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), which published the flash estimate. Consumer prices are expected at 1,2%, on a trend basis, as also indicated by the consensus, and down on the 1,3% of the previous month. The figure is also slowing down in Italy: Istat has estimated an increase of only 0,1% on a monthly basis in February and 0,6% on an annual basis (from +0,9% in January).
