THE BULL BRAKES IN ASIA AND AT WALL STREET
THE LION GENERALI WAKES UP IN MILAN
After charging, Taurus takes a break. In Asia, like on Wall Street, the markets ended the session in negative sign. The worst-than-expected trade deficit weighs on Tokyo -0,46%, while Hong Kong -0,8% signals new problems for the Chinese economy.
The feeling is that the markets are awaiting precise indications before continuing the race: today's publication of the minutes of the Fed meeting in early August; even more important, tomorrow's meeting between François Hollande and Angela Merkel, a fundamental step in assuming a common position in the face of the Greek request for a postponement to 2016 of the objectives agreed with Brussels. Greek premier Antonis Samaras will present himself in Berlin and Paris with a new plan, which provides for two billion more savings.
Wall Street turns out to be Apple-addicted. New York stock markets, after hitting a four-year high, fell when a stream of realizations in the second part of the session caused the world stock exchange leader to drop by 1,4%, falling below the its fresh historical record. At the end of the day, the S&P was down 0,35%, the Nasdaq down 0,29%. The Dow Jones lost 0,51%.
The EU price lists yesterday instead returned to rise after the break on Monday, thanks to the optimism of the operators on an intervention by the ECB to stem the sovereign debt crisis. London, Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid closed with increases of between half a point and one percentage point. Milan did best of all with the Ftse Mib which finished trading at +2,4% and the Ftse All Share at +2,25%. A sign that, despite the friction still existing at European level on this issue, especially with the Bundesbank, the lack of details and with the invitations of the ECB itself not to speculate on decisions not yet taken, the market sees a central bank now ready to go down in the field.
Lo spread between Btp and Bund purchases in the banking sector reported below 410 basis points The session was made more serene by the Spanish auction, where bonds worth 4,5 billion at 12/18 months were placed without problems with rates falling to 3,07, 3,335% and 3,918% (from the previous 4,242% and 1,25%). On the foreign exchange market, the euro strengthened and touched 1,2475 dollars at 1,2342 (99,12) and 97,96 yen (XNUMX).
The rating agencies are making themselves heard again. Standard & Poor's cooled expectations on the solidity of the recovery. "We do not believe - reads a report - that the economy of the United States and of European countries can improve significantly in the coming year", furthermore, due to the increasingly weak economy "it is reasonable to expect more problematic credit conditions ”, aggravated by the . possible contagion from the European debt crisis and the risk of a 'fiscal cliff', linked to the expiry of the Bush-era tax cuts.
In reverse, for once Moody's has a good word for Italy. In a report dedicated to the imbalances in the euro area, the rating agency stated that Italy could return to pre-crisis GDP levels as early as 2013.
Also David Riley, director of Fitch (investigated by the Trani prosecutor's office) has words of praise for Italy. "The current Italian government has a lot of credibility but Mario Monti must make progress as quickly as possible to create some light at the end of the tunnel." Riley added that Italy "doesn't need more austerity measures, those introduced are enough, while reforms are needed now."
In Piazza Affari, all 40 blue chips of the FtseMib index closed higher. The biggest gains concern the banks, starting with the usual Monte Paschi which rose by 7,2%. After three days of anomalous increases, Consob intends to examine the nature of the purchases of the stock, favored by the provision that prohibits short selling of financial securities, thus freezing the market. Unicredit +2,8%, Intesa +5%, Banco Popolare +5,5%. Pop. Emilia +6,6%.
It deserves a special note the awakening of Mediobanca up 4,6%. This time the Fonsai mess has nothing to do with it: we will talk about it again starting from 27 August when the encore placement of the unopted one will start. Unipol meanwhile scores a leap of 7,2%. Piazzetta Cuccia goes up to tow of Generali +4,8%, favored by rumors about an upcoming sale of the subsidiary Generali USA (reinsurance). The operation, which could yield proceeds of between 800 million and 1 billion euros, is linked to the strategy of the new CEO Mario Greco which aims to increase the profitability of the group. According to the Bloomberg agency, the advisory mandate for the operation was entrusted to Citigroup. The documents for the sale could be sent to potential buyers as early as next month.
Among industrialists, Fiat rose by 2,4% and Finmeccanica by 2,6%, Prysmian +3,2%.
Sul foreign exchange market, the euro strengthens and is close to 1,25 dollars at 1,2475 (1,2342) and 99,12 yen (97,96) while the dollar-yen ratio stands at 79,445 (79,38). As for crude oil, the WTI rose by 1,25% to 97,46 dollars.
