It's the week of the Fed and the possible maxi rate hike of 75 basis points. While awaiting the decisions of the American Central Bank, which will be announced on Wednesday evening, the European stock exchanges closed today's session above parity, on a hot Monday in which the banks were the protagonists throughout the old continent. However, he arrived to mess up the plans at the end the announcement of Gazprom which from Wednesday will drastically reduce deliveries of Russian gas to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline to 33 million cubic meters a day, citing the need for maintenance work on a turbine.
The closure of the European Stock Exchanges: Piazza Affari is the best
With an increase of 0,8% to 21.382 points, the best stock exchange is Piazza Affari, followed by Paris (+0,25%) and Madrid (+0,39%). More weak (-0,44%) Frankfurt, weighed down by the decline of Volkswagen which, after the revolution at the top, yields 1,25%. However, the worsening of the Ifo index weighs the most, falling in July to its lowest since June 2020: the figure is at 88,6 points from 92,2 in June. According to the president of the Ifo, Clemens Fuest, “sentiment in German affairs has cooled considerably. German companies expect business to become much more difficult in the coming months and are also less satisfied with their current situation." Not only that: "The high energy prices and the imminent shortage of gas are a burden", and "Germany is on the verge of a recession".
Waiting for the Fed: Wall Street on a roller coaster, pharma is racing
Wall Street it opened up, but after a few minutes it took the path of uncertainty, with the Nasdaq (-0,4%) marking the worst performance among the main indices. While the wait for the quarterly of the hi-tech giants (Apple, Alphabet and Amazon above all), everyone's eyes are obviously on the Fed which should be on Wednesday raise rates by 75 basis points of interest in an attempt to counter the surge in inflation, which has reached a 40-year high. However, markets fear that aggressive central bank tightening will drive the US economy into a recession, even if the Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen he tried to reassure, reiterating that data on growing consumer spending, industrial production, credit quality and other economic indicators do not suggest that a recession is upon us.
To report the performance of pharmaceutical stocks who, after the announcement of the health emergency on monkeypox, started running again as they did in the worst periods of the Covid emergency. Siga Technologies climbs 22,5%, while Inovio Pharmaceuticals gains 2,7% and Emergent 5,4%. Cruise lines Caribbean, Norwegian and Royal Carnival are in red instead, fearing that the announcement will have new effects on travel.
The banks drive Piazza Affari
Although the uncertainty triggered by the government crisis continues to worry citizens and investors, the first session of the week closes up for Piazza Affari. The merit is almost entirely of the banks which, in view of the publication of the accounts for the semester, drag the entire list. In the sector they stand out Bpm bank (2,15%), Bper (+ 2,59%), Unicredit (+ 1,98%), Intesa Sanpaolo (+ 1,69%).
The best stock of the Ftse Mib is though Saipem which rises by 4,15% on the eve of the board of directors called to approve the quarterly results, which will be announced on Wednesday 27 July. Remaining on oil, they also closed positively Tenaris (+1,52%) ed Eni (+0,37%), which together with Sonatrach announced a further discovery in the Sif Fatima II concession, located in the North Berkine basin in the Algerian desert.
Recommended Generali, which gains 1,58% after Ivass's go-ahead for the 500 million buyback, which could start shortly. Purchases on Stellantis (+1,61%)
Today's Worst Headlines instead they are: Interpump (-2,49%), Telecom Italia (-2,69%), Diasorin (-2,28%) and Amplifon (-1,8%).
Gazprom drives up gas prices
Oil prices are rising again, with the September delivery contract on Brent standing at 104,95 dollars per barrel (+1,75%) and that on WTI rising by 1,64% to 96,25 dollars. On the foreign exchange market, theEuro it is still traveling above the threshold of 1,02 dollars (1,0223 to be precise), in line with Friday's close. After the announcement of Gazprom, to Amsterdam prices fly by gas which in closing mark an increase of 10,6% to 177,3 per megawatt hour.
Spread stable
On bonds, the spread between BTPs and Bunds is stable at 237 basis points after the strong fluctuations experienced last week in the wake of the political turmoil that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Draghi and the official start of the government crisis. The yield on Italian 3,43-year bonds was also unchanged at Friday's values at XNUMX% at the last closing.
