European stock markets positive at the start, but Piazza Affari turns slightly negative at the end of the morning, awaiting the hearing of Minister Pier Carlo Padoan on the 2016 Def before the Budget Commissions of the House and Senate. Better Frankfurt (+0,35%, closed yesterday) and Paris (+0,7%). The Lvmh star shines (+2,6%) which he announced the purchase of 80% of the German group Rimowa, specialized in the production of high-tech luggage for 640 million euros.
pound at 31-year low. SPLASH THE RUBLE
London performed well (+1,6%): the pound/dollar exchange rate slipped in the morning to 1,2757, returning to the 31-year low reached in the post-referendum in June. The dollar appreciated sharply, trading above the low of 1,1165 in the mid-morning, while the dollar/yen reached 102,49, the highest level for about two weeks.
A few hours after the publication of the Fondo Monteraio International's autumn outlook, the ruble rose to its highest level since October 2015, on the back of oil's strengthening above $50 (+0,8%, to 62,3694).
The Colombian peso slows down (-2,7%) after the no to the peace treaty with the FARC. Instead, the march of the Mexican peso continues, considered a sort of benchmark against the election of Donald Trump (who wants to build a wall between the two countries) to the US presidency. The televised debate between the vice presidential candidates, the Republican Mike Pence and the Democrat Tim Kaine will be held tonight.
THE 50-YEAR BTP WILL RETURN 3%
The spread between ten-year BTPs and their German counterparts opens at 135,3 points, in line with yesterday's closing. The yield stands at 1,25,7%. The placement of the 50-year BTP is underway. The minimum amount is around 3 billion and the yield is indicated as around 3%. The operation was entrusted to a syndicate of banks made up of Banca IMI, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan and Unicredit.
The dollar appreciated sharply, trading above the low of 1,1165 in the mid-morning, while the dollar/yen reached 102,49, the highest level for about two weeks. Oil down slightly: Brent fell this morning by 0,7% to 50,5 dollars a barrel, after rising by 3,7% yesterday. Among the oil companies, Saipem +1,1%, Eni +0,6%.
DEUTSCHE BANK CUTS 1.000 SEATS: ITALY WILL FOLLOW
The crisis in the banking sector continues to hold sway, in Italy as in the rest of Europe. Retrieve in Frankfurt Deutsche Bank (+0,86%): the price of CDSs, derivative instruments used to protect against default, fell by around 3%. While waiting for news on the 14 billion dollar fine, the group is about to finalize an agreement with the German unions to lay off a thousand employees.
Even in Italy, a season of personnel reduction and mergers is looming ahead of the counter to reabsorb excess production capacity: these are the necessary steps for Italian banks, grappling with an acute problem of low profitability. This was stated by the general manager of the Bank of Italy, Salvatore Rossi, opening the XVII day of credit.
“The problem of our banks' problems is low profitability,” Rossi said, noting how the problem for Italian institutions is “particularly acute. It is necessary to accelerate the rationalization of the central organizational structures and of the branch network in the area, in order to reabsorb the excess production capacity that has arisen in these long years of crisis”, says the general manager of Bankitalia. In many cases – he concluded – interventions on personnel will be inevitable”.
Ubi -0,9%: the institute is evaluating the purchase of three of the four good banks that Italy has undertaken to sell to the EU, but on condition that a series of conditions are met which would make the operation positive for the group. The chairman of the supervisory board, Andrea Moltrasio, said he will bring to the board the proposal to acquire the three good banks only if they are able to create value for shareholders.
Unicredit -2,66%, Intesa -0,4%. The newspaper La Stampa claims that pressure is growing on Unicredit and Intesa to remove "3,4 billion new non-performing loans from Ubi's back", but "both create a wall". Good news on the business front for Unicredit and Generali (-0,8%): the Antitrust has eliminated the bans on partnerships between the bank and the insurance company, which will now be able to do business together. Monte Paschi -1,5%.
FCA ADVANCES, BREMBO (TO THE HIGHEST) ENTERS THE FTSE MIB BASKET
Sales Fiat Chrysler (+1,1%): group sales in Italy in September grew by 20,5% on an annual basis, with a market share rising to 29,03% from 28,3%. US auto sales fell 1% to 192.883 units in September.
Meanwhile, Brembo marks a new historical record on the stock exchange at 55,15 euros. On Thursday, the stock will join the restricted club of blue chips in the FtseMib index in place of Italcementi. The gain since the beginning of the year is close to +21%. The group specialized in braking systems closed the first half of 2016 with strong growth with revenues up by 10,4% to 1,146 billion euros and an Ebitda up by 29,5% to 226,5 million. In a press release, the group said it was looking to the coming months with cautious optimism: the order book confirms good growth in revenues but start-up costs for plants in Mexico and the USA will weigh. The gain since the beginning of the year is close to +21%.
In Frankfurt, BMW gained almost 2,6%, after Exane BNP Paribas raised the target price of the car company to 87 euros from 70.
