Three pieces of news influence the markets: the strengthening of the bazooka by the ECB; the green light from the European Council to the Recovery Fund (thanks to the agreement reached by Angela Merkel with Hungary and Poland); and Joe Biden's success in Arizona, which brings down Trump's first appeal. The update from the US, which arrived overnight, eases tension on the stock markets which, after days of vaccine euphoria, marked time on Thursday, either due to the stalemate of measures in Congress, held back by the former president's guerrilla warfare, you want for the health situation: more than a dozen US states have reported a doubling of new cases of Covid-19 in the last two weeks.
Thus both US and Asian stock markets closed in the red this morning: the MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan index dropped by 0,2%. Tokyo's Nikkei loses 0,7%, while the dollar-yen cross falls to 104,9. CSI 300 of the Shanghai and Shenzen price lists -1%.
FLY TENCENT: 100 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS TO ONE OF ITS GAME
Hong Kong's Hang Seng also fell (-0,3%), despite Tencent's +4%. The social media and gaming business reported a better-than-expected 89% increase in profit to $5,8 billion in the past quarter. Its flagship game, Honor of Kings, reached a record 100 million daily active users.
Seoul's Kospi was up 0,5% (despite a scandal involving investment funds), Taipei's Taiex 0,2%, Mumbai's Sensex 0,3%.
AUSTRALIA: THE MINING MAGNATE BETS ON HYDROGEN
On parity the Australian Stock Exchange. The first shareholder of the mining giant Fortescue Metals Andrew Forrest has announced that he will invest a significant part of his personal fortune in the construction of a green hydrogen production plant with 235 GigaWatt of installed capacity, four times more than a similar program announced by BP for the 2030.
Wall Street futures are slightly positive. Yesterday the Dow Jones closed at -1,08%, S&P 500 at -1%, Nasdaq at -0,73%. Of note is the leap by Moderna (+6,5%), which will reveal its vaccine in a few days.
73 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS FOR DISNEY+
Walt Disney slows down, but the Disney+ platform announces that it has reached 73 million subscribers.
The dollar is little moved against its benchmark counterparts. The 1-year Treasury Note, which arrived close to the 0,86% yield at the beginning of the weeks, is going back: this morning we are at 27%. The interest rate curve, as a result of the new lockdowns announced in Chicago, Detroit and California, is flattening again, a movement that penalized the big Wall Street banks yesterday. Yesterday the 30 billion dollar auction of XNUMX-year Treasury notes had a good outcome: strong demand and an increasing presence of foreign investors.
OIL DROP TO 40,3 DOLLARS
WTI oil lost nearly 2%, to $40,3 a barrel. U.S. crude inventories climbed more than four million barrels last week, while the consensus expected a decline of 900.000 barrels.
PFIZER CEO SOLD STOCKS AFTER DISCOVERY
After eight days of recovery (+16% Piazza Affari) the European price lists allowed themselves a break, awaiting new confirmations on the vaccine front and signals from the White House, where Donald Trump still promises to do battle, among the first failures loyalists (including Fox News). The stock paid some profits after the rally recorded in the previous sessions, which was not unrelated to the bewilderment at the news that Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, sold securities for 5.6 million dollars before the announcement of the vaccine.
On the other hand, the announcements multiply: the Russian vaccine, Sputnik 2, which has been adopted by Hungary, guarantees 92% efficacy; Brazil has resumed studies on the Chinese Sinovac. The spotlights are focused on the presentation of the Moderna drug, already promoted by Anthony Fauci. Attention has also focused on the virtual forum attended by central bankers, including Jerome Powell.
POWELL: WE WILL START AGAIN BUT HARD MONTHS AWAIT US
The Fed president wanted to curb enthusiasm on the vaccine front by underlining that “we will face very heavy challenges in the coming months. We will start again – he said – but the economy will certainly have changed: there will be a large number of workers who will need help to enter a profoundly different economy”. Christine Lagarde, on the other hand, wanted to underline the lesser uncertainty about the future after the US elections and the progress on Brexit.
LAGARDE WORRIED ABOUT THE MASSACRE OF DANISH MINK
But many things can still go wrong, as demonstrated by the case of the 17 million minks that Denmark will have to slaughter to stop the spread of the infection.
However, comforting signals are coming from the US labor market: the number of unemployed drops to 709. Too little to deny the urgency of fiscal stimuli and new monetary policy interventions.
Industrial production in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell 0,4% month-on-month in September, down 6,8% year-on-year. Economists estimated +0,7% on month and -5,8% on year.
The production of consumer durables, such as televisions and washing machines, was the strongest component of previous months' growth, but there was a 5,3% decline in September.
PIAZZA AFFARI BRAKS AFTER THREE DAYS OF RALLY
Piazza Affari limits the damage to -0,84%, stopping at 20.817 points, under a flood of quarterly reports. Frankfurt loses ground, -1,21%. In sharp decline Siemens (-3,6%). Paris -1,52%, Valeo leaves 4,18% on the ground. Madrid -0,92%. London does little better: -0,63%.
NEW RECORD AUCTION FOR BTPs
The decline in government bond yields continues: the ten-year BTP falls to 0,68% -5 points. In yesterday's medium and long-term auctions, 3- and 15-year BTP rates recorded new all-time lows, while 7-year bonds moved up fractionally but close to the record low. The Treasury has assigned the maximum amount of 6 billion euros, out of a range offered of 4,75-6 billion. The third tranche of the 3-year January 2024 zero coupon was assigned for 3 billion at a gross rate of -0,19%, new record low, from -0,14%, marked in the mid-October placement.
The ninth tranche of the seven-year loan maturing in September 2027 and yielding 0,95% was placed for 1,75 billion at a yield of 0,35%, one cent just above the all-time low of 0,34% reached last month . The supply-demand ratio stands at 1,58 from 1,76. As for the 15-year March 2036, at the sixth reopening, the amount assigned is 1,25 billion at the gross rate of 1,05% from 1,91% in the mid-June auction.
A DOLLAR BOND IN SIGHT
The Treasury announces that it has mandated a pool of banks to issue a new dollar bond maturing in February 2026, with the possibility of a second tranche in November 2050.
ENEL: OPEN FIBER SALE CLOSE, HERA GOOD
Enel (-1,61%) is close to reaching an agreement to sell its stake in the broadband operator Open Fiber to the Australian fund Macquarie and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Cdp). Reuters wrote it noting the approach of the decisive Enel board of directors scheduled for December 17: the government is increasing pressure on both sides to accelerate plans to create a national broadband operator.
Among the utilities, Hera did well (+1,74%), promoted by Kepler Cheuvreux from hold to buy, with a target price going from 3,5 to 3,6 euros.
POSTE ITALIANE (+3,03%) TITLE OF THE DAY
The protagonist of the day was Poste Italiane (+3,03%) at the highest level in the quarter. Performance was influenced by the excellent accounts of the company led by CEO Matteo Del Fante, but also by the dividend agreement relating to the 2020 financial statements, equal to 0,162 euros per share, up by 5%. Revenues grew, amounting to 2,58 billion (+0,8% on an annual basis), with a strong recovery after the -13,1% of the second quarter.
GENERALI -0,5%, HALF DIVIDEND PAID IN 2021
Generali (-0,5%) closed the first nine months of 2020 with 4 billion euros of operating profit, around 200 million euros more than the consensus. The company lets it be known that it will not pay the second tranche of the dividend, as requested by the regulatory body, but the three-year remuneration plan does not change.
PIRELLI BLACK JERSEY. JV BETWEEN FCA AND ENGIE
Pirelli (-5,5%) beat analysts' expectations in the third quarter, with revenues down 7% year on year to 1,27 billion and Ebitda equal to 309 million euros. But at the same time, there is a downward revision of profitability estimates.
Fiat Chrysler (-2%) has entered into an agreement with Engie on energy storage systems: the new joint venture aims to be a leader in the e-Mobility sector. Cnh Industrial -1,61%.
Tod's shines with a 10% jump after quarterly revenues higher than analysts' expectations. On the other hand, Ferragamo is backtracking (-1,9%) in a lively sector throughout Europe thanks also to the quarter above expectations by Burberry.
Among the banks, realizations prevail after the run of the last sessions with the big Intesa and Unicredit down by 1,6% and 2% respectively.
MEDIOBANCA PROMOTES MEDIASET'S "SOLID" EARNINGS
Mediaset collected well (+3,2%), in the wake of the results for the quarter, defined as "rock solid" by Mediobanca Securities, which "confirm strong cash generation together with an improved trend for the part of advertising revenues". Among the other brokers, Berenberg brought the target price to 1,9 euros from the previous 1,75 euros, Barclays to 2 euros from 1,9 euros and Credit Suisse to 2,05 euros from 1,95.
3 BILLION TAX GIFTS FOR THOSE WHO BUY MPS
Any buyer Monte will be able to calculate the dowry as capital, for the transformation, ope legis, of 3,7 billion of deferred tax assets into receivables from the Treasury. For now, the text of the budget provides for it: assets, which fell to 6,77 billion due to losses in September, are so close to the supervisory minimum that they are already preparing an increase of 2 billion, which at the beginning of 2021 will see the Treasury pay at least its 68%. Paragraph 1 of the law provides that the "discount" is triggered if "from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021" they carry out "business combination operations through mergers, demergers or business transfers", which would allow "the subject, respectively, resulting from the merger or acquiring, beneficiary and transferee”, to increase its capital using certain tax losses of the prey.
