European stock markets fluctuate after last week's sharp declines. After a positive start, Piazza Affari turns negative at the beginning of the afternoon (-0,5%). The energy sector in particular caused the price changes to change course, which in turn was affected by the plunge in WTI oil prices, which fell below 35 dollars a barrel for the first time since 2009 after the declarations of Amir Hossein Zamaninia, deputy minister of the Iranian oil, ("There is no possibility that the country will postpone its plans to expand exports in light of the collapse in oil prices"). Words that have awakened concerns about the problems of excess supply that have so far depressed prices.
The ECB confirmed the expansive policy but also issued a warning on the reforms: “As I was able to say at the last meeting of the Council and even more recently, there is no doubt that, if we were to intensify the use of our tools to achieve our price stability objective, we will.” This was stated by the president of the ECB, Mario Draghi, speaking this morning at the Prometeia conference in Bologna.
The shocks that have hit our economy since 2008 have not only been cyclical in nature, but also structural, he said Draghi, emphasizing that in this context monetary policy can ensure price stability, but by itself it cannot make an economy prosperous in the long term. It is therefore essential to intervene on both supply and demand and act coherently on all fronts, to consolidate the inversion of the cycle.
Meanwhile, the descent of oil continues, with the WTI down by 0,3% to 35,5 dollars a barrel, the lowest since February 2009. Brent at 37,7 dollars (-0,4%). Eni -0,2% passes into negative ground, Tenaris -0,74% Saipem drops by 1,07%. Enel advances by 0,6%. positive Terna (+1%), promoted from Rbs to Sector Perform from Underperform. Well A2A (+ 1,4%).
In Piazza Affari he holds court the case of Telecom Italia, on the eve of the duel (better to say pitched battle) in the meeting between Vivendi and a large part of the funds. The ordinary share rises by 3%, after the first shareholder, Vivendi, owner of 20% of the capital, announced on Friday that at tomorrow's meeting it will not vote in favor of the conversion of savings shares into ordinary shares, thus making it impossible to approval of the transaction which requires a two-thirds majority. Savings shares, on the other hand, lose 11%.
The fracture at the top is almost inevitable. Arnaud de Puyfontaine, CEO of Vivendi, declared that "a board that does not reflect the shareholding structure is like seeing a ship leave without its captain".
Among the banks, down by Popular Emilia (-0,688%), Understanding (-1,06) Carige (-4%) And Mount Paschi (-1,4%). Unicredit unchanged.
Exane Bnp Paribas continues to see the M&A process among Italian cooperative banks as a key driver of outperformance next year. So focus on Bpm, Bper, Creval, Banco Popolare but also on MPS.
Generali 0,5% salt, UnipolSai -0,4%.
The Financial Times writes that the central bank of Ireland is about to launch a vast investigation into asset management activities domiciled in its territory. Mediolanum (-0,8%) holds assets of 30 billion euros in Ireland. Azimut (-0,8%) moved all of its insurance business to the Celtic country and has assets under management of around 5 billion.
The industrial stocks moved little: Fiat Chrysler -4,7% enters volatility, now back in trading but in sharp decline. Finmeccanica +0,1% and StM +0,3%. Today, the Stmicroelectronics stock detaches the quarterly dividend of 0,10 dollars (0,09 euros) per share, for a total of 0,40 dollars (about 0,366 euros) per year. On an annual basis, the gross yield is 5,9%.
Positive changes for luxury stocks: Moncler + 1% Luxottica +1,1% and Ferragamo + 0,7%.
