“Because the banking crisis is not over”. The title of a WSJ article signed by Nick Timiraos, the journalist closest to the Fed, well interprets the nervousness of the markets a few days before the meetings of the Fed and the ECB. But the most precious medicine arrived last night to stop the downward pressure: a river of money, i.e. the announcement of a buyback, the repurchase of treasury shares, for 70 billion dollars by A, news that bounced the stock, already in the red due to the decline in profits in the quarter, up 4%. Even more explosive is the rebound of Microsoft, from -2 to +8% after the advances on projects related to Artificial Intelligence. The two Bigs have thus turned the mood on the fate of Tech.
The Nasdaq promises bull opening
◦ The Nasdaq, which had closed the evening at around -2%, the worst result since March 9, this morning anticipates a brilliant opening: the Nasdaq future gains more than 1%.
◦ Hong Kong, the Asian stock market most linked to technology, also rebounded from the lows of the last five weeks.
But the collapse of First Republic scares the stock markets
◦ However, the turning point does not serve to infect the rest of the price lists. Weighs the meltdown, higher than expected, of FirstRepublic -49% after reporting a drop in deposits of 100 billion dollars. UBS weak in Europe, which halved its profits in the first quarter. Banco de Santander is also down.
Europe in red. Lane (ECB): the increase in interest rates is inevitable
◦ European stocks should open lower, futures EuroStoxx50 -0,7%.
◦ Milano it closed a holiday session down by 1%, weighed down by the decline in bank stocks.
◦ The spread rose to 189 points even if the 4,24-year yield fell to XNUMX%.
◦ The creepiest note comes from Moody's. The rating agency warns that Italy runs the risk of ending up in the list of countries with credit rating below sufficient, below the Investment Grande (IG) certification. Moody's today awards Italy the Judgment Baa3-, just one step above the threshold that separates what is investable from what is junk, the purchase of which is prohibited by the regulations of many funds. Analysts Kelvin Dalrymple and Scott Phillips warn that the low growth and debt-service spending risk further weakening Italy's fiscal position.
◦ Today the Swedish central bank should raise rates by 50 points.
◦ The chief economist of the ECB Philip Lane said in an interview with Le Monde that Frankfurt has no alternative to a further rise in the cost of money.
Brake Ups, the recession scares the US. Improve the dollar
◦ Yesterday on US markets Stocks are down and bonds are up. S&P -1,58%, Dow Jones -1,02%. The downturn in the turnover of Ups, considered a very sensitive measure of economic performance.
◦ The yield of Treasury Notes ten-year bonds traded this morning at 3,40% from 3,47% yesterday.
◦ Settling ineuro dollar to 1,098, from -0,6% yesterday. The dollar yesterday recorded its best session in a month (+0,66%) as the search for protection prevailed on the series of negative macro data that emerged yesterday: in the United States consumer confidence fell to a nine-month low in April: The Conference Board said the consumer confidence index fell to 101,3 points, the lowest level since July 2022, from a revised 104,0 in March.
China marks time, confidence in Korea improves
◦ In Asia slightly below parity the CSI 300 of the Shanghai and Shenzen price lists. Mumbai stocks opened 0,4% lower. Seoul's Kospi loses 0,4%. Tonight Bank of America revised downwards its estimates of South Korea's GDP for the current year to +1,4%, from +1,9%. The Korean consumer confidence index compiled by the central bank's research office rose in April to 95,1 from 92. The improvement is mainly due to the drop in inflation expectations over the twelve months. After the quarter's announcements, memory chip maker SK Hynix and battery operator LG Energy rose in the Korean market.
◦ Gold around $2.000. Rising price, supported by the demand for safe haven assets following the tensions on US banks.
◦ Petroleum fluctuating, with Brent hovering around 82 dollars. US strategic crude inventories, according to a private survey, fell by 6 million barrels. In the afternoon, the official data from the Department of Energy come out.
Stm advances with Texas Instruments, Moncler following Gucci
Kering it closed the first quarter with a one percent increase in revenues to 5,08 billion euros. The maison has not yet absorbed the departure of Alessandro Di Michele: the reference brand, Gucci, has benefited less than its rivals from the recovery in China and has recorded declining revenues in the USA. “Kering's performance in the first quarter remained mixed,” said group president and chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault.
Positive effects for stm from the accounts of Texas Instruments, a company with a similar product catalog. In the presentation of data for the quarter, the Texan chipmaker said that demand from the automotive sector remains very buoyant.
Enel. Oklahoma is a prime candidate to become the location for the power company's solar panel manufacturing plant announced last year. This was stated by Giovanni Bertolino, who heads 3Sun Usa the manufacturing division of Enel Us solar.
Telecom Italy. Corriere della Sera writes that there was a meeting in Paris between the CEO, Pietro Labriola and Vivendi, the main shareholder of the telephone group, to clarify their respective positions, after the French partners rejected the sale of the network.
stellantis. Chrysler intends to cut about 3.500 hours of work in the United States and is offering voluntary exit packages, the United Auto Workers union said in a letter released yesterday.
