Worry about China. In Apple's accounts, meanwhile, it doesn't disappoint, but it doesn't exalt Wall Street. The financial morning opens under the banner of these signals.
Preliminary data from HSBC on the trend of the Chinese PMI index (the thermometer of companies' purchasing intentions) shows a worrying 47,1, well below the boundary between growth and recession (50). As a consequence, Asian price lists are holding back. Tokyo is down by half a percentage point one hour after the closure, while Shanghai and Hong Long are also in negative territory. Futures on the US Stock Exchange are also weak.
With the Stock Exchange closed, the most eagerly awaited quarterly on the American market was announced: the accounts of Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),. The quarterly earnings emerge higher than expected (7,47 dollars per share, 15 cents more than estimates), the result of the boom in sales of the iPhone (almost 32 million units against an expectation of 26) and the happy trend of iTunes. However, the iPad is slowing down (14 million sold against 17 in the previous quarter) and CEO Tim Cook's forecasts make analysts turn up their noses: next quarter's revenues will be in the range between 35-37 billion, lower than the expectations of the market. In summary, the absence of new products is felt, partly compensated by the expansion of the commercial network.
They slow down in the final session the S& P index – 0,22% and the Nasdaq -0,59%. Slight rise for the Dow Jones +0,14%. Wall Street's rally lost momentum after the publication of data on the Richmond Fed index which fell to -11 points from 7 in June. The Richmond Fed gauge reading in July “came a surprise to the market,” said Richard Sichel, investment director at the Philadelphia Trust, and markets don't like surprises. However, "the positive profits reported by several companies are supporting the Dow Jones", concludes the expert.
They slow down in the finale of sitting the European stock exchanges also due to an indiscretion linked to Pimco: the giant in the management of monetary securities would have decided to reduce its exposure to Southern European securities, starting with Btp and Bonos.
Minus signs for the Dax (-0,20%), the Cac 40 (-0,43%) and the Ftse 100 which drops by 0,39%. Only Madrid shines, which gained 1,35% thanks to the decline in government bond yields which then returned to 4,68%
The Ftse Mib closed just above parity with a rise of 0,03% to 16.238 points.
The best stock in the main Milanese basket was Telecom Italy +6,7%. The leap follows the announcement of a maxi telephony operation in Germany. KPN will sell its German subsidiary E-Plus to Deutschland telephone for 8,1 billion euros.
Telefonica earns 2%,Deutschland telephone loses 2%.
THE TREASURY CANCEL AUGUST BTP AUCTION
The retreat of stock exchanges in the afternoon also led to a deterioration in peripheral bonds. The Italy-Germany spread ended the session at 280 basis points, after having dropped to 275, its lowest level since June 19th.
On Friday, the Treasury is back on the scene with the auction of Ctz (2,5 billion). The auction of BOTs (9,5 billion semi-annual bonds) is scheduled for next Monday, while on Tuesday it will be the turn of BTPs with five and ten years.
The Ministry of the Economy communicates that, in analogy with the choice adopted last year and in consideration of the ample availability of cash, it announced yesterday evening that on 26 July the Btpei will not be offered at auction nor will the auctions of securities be held medium-long term mid-August. The annual Bot auction, scheduled for August 12, 2013, will be held regularly.
FIAT PREPARES THE SUITCASES, HIT ON STM
It collapses, somewhat surprisingly, stm -10%. Weighing on the accounts for the second quarter, and above all on the forecasts for the current quarter, is the battle between the global giants of high-end smartphones, the main customers of the joint venture. According to Carlo Bozzotti, CEO of the group, the competitive pressure on smartphones will result in a weakness in the MEMS market, the circuits that incorporate various sensors, from the accelerometer, to GPS, from the compass to the altimeter, the true flagship product of StM .
Fiat it closed trading gaining 1,18% to 6,01 euros. Barclays raised its target price from 2,4 to 4 euros, keeping its recommendation at underweight after changing its recommendation on the European auto sector from negative to neutral. The Constitutional Court, in the reasons for the sentence issued on 3 July last year in which it declared the constitutional illegitimacy of the Workers' Statute, wrote that Fiat, by excluding Fiom from representation in its factories, had created an incurable conflict with art. 39 of the Constitution, negatively affecting the trade union's freedom of action. Lingotto's reply is ready: Fiat reserves the right to evaluate "whether and to what extent the new criterion of representativeness, as interpreted by the Constitutional Court, will be able to modify the current structure of union relations and, in the future, its industrial strategies in Italy".
Today they did well too Fiat Industrial +1,07% with the Cnh shareholders' meeting which approved the merger with the parent company through which a new group called Cnh Industrial NV will be created.
The banks slow down in the end. Unicredit which gained 2% closed at +0,4%. Understanding +1% but was up 2,5% in the afternoon.
'The Syndicate Pact Rcs + 2,07% will meet on July 31st for “the consequent checks and certifications” linked to the conclusion of the capital increase. 'The management of the syndicate - reads the note - will therefore, after the meeting, disclose the amount of the contributions of the individual shareholders as well as the percentages of ownership with reference to the share capital represented by ordinary shares and to the whole of restricted shares'.
