European stock markets continued to rise driven by Wall Street, oil stocks and also the good Asian close. The Ftse MIb climbs 1,57% (at 13,44pm), Frankfurt by 0,91%, Paris by 1,25%, London by 1,39%. After Tokyo closed up 1,25%, Shanghai jumped 2,5% on hopes that the Chinese government would take steps to revive the economy. Positive results also for the Shenzhen market with the composite index gaining 2,10%. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is closed.
In Italy today under examination by the Council of Ministers there is the 2015 economic and financial document. In the meantime, the Treasury is preparing for the next BTP Italia: from Monday 13 to Thursday 16 April 2015, a new BTP Italia will be distributed, with a duration of 8 years instead of 6 as in the previous issue. The Btp-bund spread + at 109 basis points and the yield is down to 1,27%.
On the positive European sentiment the good figure of thePMI index of the Eurozone. In March, the final Markit PMI of composite output in the Eurozone rose to 54 from 53,3 in February, hitting an 11-month high and the highest value for the second time in almost four years.
The PMI services index also performed well which, with 54,2 in March, up from 53,7 in February, marks an expansion in production for the twentieth consecutive month. The PMI services index rises both in Germany and in Italy. Eurostat data on industrial production prices has also been published: in February industrial production prices in the euro area increased by 0,5%, in the EU by 0,6%.
"We don't know whether the eurozone economy is picking up speed enough to happily return to a strong and sustainable recovery, but the region is certainly seeing its best growth momentum since 2011," said Chris Williamson, chief economist. by Markit. However, for the economist the Greek crisis remains a serious threat to the stability of the Eurozone.
On the Greek front this is a crucial week. Thursday the repayment of 450 million euros to the International Monetary Fund expires and the finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, reassured the director general of the Fund, Christine Lagarde, during a two-hour meeting in Washington. In the meantime today Alexis Tsipras is visiting Vladimir Putin. Also tomorrow in Brussels, the work of the Euro working group will continue, involving the deputy finance ministers of the euro area. The meeting will serve to prepare the meeting of finance ministers called to decide whether the plans presented by the Tsipras government will offer sufficient guarantees for new loans to Athens, which is now running out of liquidity.
Now the market looks at the beginning of earnings season in the US which will kick off tomorrow with the Alcoa accounts. There is much anticipation to see the impact of the strong dollar on the profits of US companies. Four out of five companies have forecast lower profits, mainly due to lower profits from foreign operations due to the currency.
For now, Big oil is benefiting from the recovery in oil but today it is losing ground again. The rebound in barrel prices also pushed the Oslo Stock Exchange to all-time highs at 635,31 points.
Saipem +4,03%, Tenaris +3,3% and Eni +2,74% rise in Piazza Affari. Asset management also did well with Azimut +3,49% and Mediolanum +2,25%.
At the bottom of the FtseMib FCA -1,31%, Bper -0,62%, Pirelli -0,19% and Stm -0,17%.
Ansaldo Sts -0,16% on the day in which it takes its place in the main basket of Gtech, now IGT and debuting on Wall Street.
