Stock exchanges uncertain awaiting the new sanctions against Moscow. The price lists, after fluctuating around parity until 12, seem to have taken the downward path on the wave of the first advances on the moves of the European Union: Brussels is ready to do without Russian coal. Bloomberg anticipates that the import ban, to be phased in, should be contained in a sanctions package outlined in response to the Bucha atrocities. The same source interviewed by the American press agency says that in the European Council, there is no agreement on measures concerning gas and oil. About half of the coal used as fuel for European thermoelectric plants comes from Russia. The benchmark future traded in Rotterdam is up 7%.
Stock markets in the red, energy prices on the rise
European stocks moved lower in the morning. Milan -0,8% falls below 25 thousand points, Frankfurt -0,4%. Wall Street futures are down slightly: Nasdaq -0,2% after the performance of Twitter +27%, S&P500 -0,2%. Moscow -4% fell sharply.
Bonds weaken. The yield of german bund rises to 0,53%, + 3 basis points, the BTP goes to 2,18% yield. +6 basis points. The spread is at 166 basis points.
While waiting i energy prices remain close to their highs. Brent oil is trading just below $109 this morning. Gas for Europe is down slightly: Russia is regularly delivering gas through pipelines to Europe. On the financial front, VTB, a Russian state-controlled bank, paid the coupons in rubles for the subordinated bonds issued on the domestic market last year and denominated in dollars and euros. Instead, the US prevented Moscow from using dollar deposits with the United States to pay a coupon: the goal is Moscow's default.
The effect of the sanctions: the Russian economy plummets
Meanwhile sanctions are felt: The composite PMI, which measures Russia's economic activity, plunged 26% in March to 37,7 points from 50,8, the worst reading ever. Inflation fluctuates around 20%, despite the doubling of the cost of money to 19%.
the European Union the PMI data is at 54,9 points.
The talks between Moscow and Kiev resume today, on video. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky today he will speak to UN Security Council - at 10 am NY time, around 26 pm in Italy - in an attempt to mobilize international support for an investigation into the Bucha killings. Russia will also present "empirical evidence" to deny its responsibility. Italy has decided to expel 30 diplomats from Moscow "for security reasons". Discounted Russian retaliation.
Best and worst at the Milan Stock Exchange
In Piazza Affari the best stocks are those in the health sector. Guide the list Registered + 2,29% followed by Diasorin +1,6%.
Positive Unipol +1,3% while Generali continues to fall -1,38% after the long positive streak. This morning Morgan Stanley raised the target price from 21 to 23 euros, confirming the Equal Weight recommendation.
Weak automotive. The worst stock is Stellantis -3,14%. Pirelli also fell -9,5% despite Citigroup's promotion from neutral to buy.
Reductions of more than two percentage points for Stm and Fineco.
Tim decreased by 1% with a nervous pattern during the morning. Kkr's letter has arrived and clarifies that the American fund cannot currently confirm its 10,8 billion euro offer for the telephone group unless it is allowed to carry out a due diligence, the conditions having changed in the meantime compared to the original offer of October 2021. However, the Fund does not completely close the door and is also open to exploring other solutions. "We remain at your disposal - reads the conclusion of the letter relaunched by Radiocor - to complete the due diligence on our proposal, or to explore any other operation in the interest of the company, its shareholders and Italy”. Which would leave an open door to the single network project given that Kkr is a shareholder with 37,5% of FiberCop, the jv of Tim and Fastweb on optical fiber.
