Cautious opening of the session for the European equity markets. As we know, Piazza Affari has been excited for a few days due to the imminent debut of the Draghi government, which now places it permanently above 23.000 points, with the Btp Bund spread in the 91 points area, at its lowest since 2015. However, today the Ftse Mib it slows down a bit and in the morning it is equal. In great evidence are the oil companies, with Saipem and Tenaris leading the increases benefiting from the stability of crude oil, which today is stable at pre-Covid levels: Brent is above 63 dollars a barrel, the WTI fluctuates around 60 dollars a barrel. By mid-morning, Saipem gained almost 4%, Tenaris over 2%. Eni +1% and out of Saras' main exploit basket with over 4%.
Instead, bank stocks suffer: the worst is Bper which loses more than 1% around 10, Mediobanca also in the red and, albeit with lower losses, Banco Bpm and Intesa Sanpaolo. Unicredit is climbing the slope a bit after last week's tumble following the 2020 accounts and the farewell of the French CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier. The Agnelli galaxy is also in trouble: sales on Exor, Stellantis and Ferrari. Diasorin is always well positioned, which confirms the good momentum of pharmaceuticals, on which investments are pouring in the race for vaccines and anti-Covid drugs and in view of possible M&As. The other European price lists are also cautious: Frankfurt, London and Paris fluctuate around parity. In France you realize on Vivendi after Monday's rally on theUniversal Music IPO. Today, Bollorè's stock is down 3%, while it is no coincidence that an oil company, Technip, is at the top of the CAC40, gaining over 30%. The euro appreciates slightly against the dollar, trading at 1.21495 in the morning.
In Milan, outside the main basket, Credito Valtellinese is gaining ground, at around 12 euros per share. Last week the bank recorded a doubling of its profit and a return to the dividend, as the merger with Credit Agricole draws ever closer, after the presidency of the Council of Ministers communicated the government's decision to Credit Agricole Italia, dating back to to 13 February last, of do not exercise the golden power in the concentration operation with Creval following the takeover bid launched by the French. In this way, explains Credit Agricole, the condition precedent to the takeover bid on Credito Valtellinese shares "has been fulfilled and the authorization procedure for the operation is therefore proceeding positively".
At an international level, there are some interesting quarterly reports, which testify to heavy losses due to the Covid crisis. Such is the case with the Swiss commodity giant, Glencore, which expanded its net loss in 2020 to $1,9 billion (the equivalent of €1,5 billion) after heavy depreciation, including on a mine in Zambia. Revenues fell 34% to $142,338 billion but Adjusted EBITDA was roughly flat at $11,560 billion. Despite this Glencore will not waive its dividend, equal to $0,12 per share. Deep red also for Bridgestone: the Japanese tire group closes 2020 with a loss of 23,3 billion yen, but on the other hand expects to return to profit as early as 2021. The expected net figure is 261 billion yen, thanks to demand which should return to levels of 2019.
