Elon Musk and Tim Cook steal the cover for once from Covid-19, Brexit and even Christmas. Yesterday the news spread that Apple has decided to go back to dealing with cars, after giving up in 2014. The self-driving iCar, ready in 2024, has thrilled the market: Apple, up 2,9%, has added $59 billion to its stock market value, more than BMW's share price.
Meanwhile, Tesla was losing ground (-1,5%), the first possible victim of the iPhone giant. “Years ago, in the darkest moment for us – Musk revealed – I asked for a meeting with Cook, who did not want to receive me. At the time Tesla was worth 60 billion, a tenth of today".
Leaving aside the war of the giants, it is worth mentioning yet another surprise move by Donald Trump, who refused to sign the law which contains almost 900 billion dollars in aid to families and businesses. The President has defined the sum that will be placed in the pockets of a large number of US citizens, 600 dollars, as "ridiculous": the check, he said, should be more than triple. But the US, in the absence of new funds, risk closing. In Europe, meanwhile, everything is ready for V-Day: Sunday 27 the distribution of the Pfizer vaccine begins.
Volumes down but prices on the Asian stock exchanges this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei rises (+0,3%). Japan has increased its budget for next summer's Olympics to $15,9 billion. Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0,5%. CSI 300 of the Shanghai and Shenzen price lists +0,9%. Kospi of Seoul +0,5%. Mumbai's Sensex is up 0,5%.
After three days of rebound, the dollar is falling again against its major counterparts in Asia and the world.
Wall Street closed yesterday: Dow Jones -0,7%, Nasdaq +0,7%, S&P -0,2%. Futures are unchanged this morning. Brent oil down 1,5% to 49,3 dollars a barrel. Gold slightly up, at 1.867 dollars.
FT: THE AGREEMENT WITH THE EU BY TODAY
Euro-sterling exchange rate slightly moved at 0,909. A political commentator on British television ITV said yesterday evening that an acceleration of the last few hours in fisheries negotiations between Great Britain and the European Union makes it possible to reach an agreement later in the day. Even the Financial Times foresees the agreement.
EUROPE REOPENS THE UK BORDER. IMF: MORE HELP IS NEEDED
The fog over the Channel lasted for the space of a day. The European Commission has invited member countries to reopen the borders with Great Britain, but only with regard to the movement of goods, which have been stuck on trucks since Sunday: travel to and from the United Kingdom is strongly discouraged, until further notice.
And so yesterday, thanks to the good news on vaccines, the markets started racing again, driven by the car. The deterioration in German consumer confidence, down for the third month in a row, does little harm; however, the figure is better than the estimates of the various institutes which anticipate a slowdown in the end of the year (-2,7 in the last three months). The International Monetary Fund also speaks of "downside risks", emphasizing that economic activity should recover more gradually than foreseen by the World Economic Outlook which recommends the allocation of "further national aid", certainly welcome to the markets.
MILAN AT THE TOP. KAIROS: FROM SUMMER, PIAZZA AFFARI WILL RUN
Milan stands out as the best place: +2,03% to 21.844 points. Massimo Trabattoni, head of Italian equity at Kairos, sees it this way: "We can imagine a two-speed year, a first quarter and perhaps part of the second still conditioned by the lockdowns and a second part of the year in full recovery".
Frankfurt +1,27%; Paris +1,36%; Madrid +1,88%. The Stoxx 600 index gains 0,8%. London +0,58%. Astra Zeneca dropped 1,3% after the experimental asthma drug developed with US partner company Amgen failed to meet the objectives of an advanced stage clinical trial.
SPREAD AT 112, 0 YEARS ALL0,53 XNUMX%
The Italian secondary trades positively after a fluctuating session, the penultimate one before the Christmas break, in a market with pre-holiday volumes. The purchases of the ECB have been suspended and will resume on January 4th. The spread between Italian and German ten-year bonds remains at 112 basis points (+0,26%), the BTP rate +0,53%.
EXOR GOES INTO ORBIT, FCA CELEBRATES THE OK IN BRUSSELS
A day of glory in Piazza Affari for Exor (+5,18%) which thus celebrates the go-ahead from the European Commission to the merger agreement between FCA and Peugeot; since the beginning of November, the holding has achieved a robust +47%.
But it was a positive session for the entire automotive sector: Fiat Chrysler +2,3%. Ferrari +1,9%.
AZIMUT LEADS THE REVENGE OF MANAGEMENT
Banking and asset management stocks are recovering, taking a shot in the arm after the contrasts of recent weeks: among the best, Azimut scores +3,93%, Banco Bpm +3,24% and Mediobanca +2,36% . Unicredit +1,3%, Entente +1%.
ATLANTA +3,15%. THE "NON-BINDING" CDP OFFER HAS ARRIVED ON ASPI
Atlantia +3,15%. The communication from Cdp on the due diligence in Aspi arrived at dawn. In the letter, the Consortium (which includes Mquarie and Blackstone) hopes "to share the terms and principles contained therein, reaffirms its intention to proceed expeditiously with the technical due diligence which, given the large amount of documents and the numerous aspects to be analyzes that have also emerged over the last few weeks, requires further insights which are fundamental in order to arrive at the formulation of a binding offer".
EQUITA RAISES MEDIASET'S TARGET
We also note the good performances of Stm (+3,78%) and Nexi (+3,3%). Mediaset +3,02%, to 2,11 euros: Equita Sim raised its target price by 7% to 2,34 euros, confirming the hold recommendation, after the company announced that it had recorded advertising growth of 6- 7% in November-December.
Time +2%. The Antitrust has launched an investigation against Tim, Fastweb, Teemo Bidco, FiberCop, Tiscali Italia and Kkr regarding the contracts that regulate the establishment and operation of FiberCop and the supply agreements with Fastweb and Tiscali. In a note, Tim and Fastweb affirm that they welcome the authority's initiative, which follows their request, in view of the full operation of FiberCop, expected in the first quarter of 2021.
THE COLLECTION FOR AN ELECTRIC NAVAL JET BOOMS ON AIM
Digital Bros. +7%. Tinxta +5%. On the Aim, money on Crowdfundme (+3,23%), in the wake of the news that the company has set a new record in raising an innovative startup: the Equity Crowdfunding campaign of DeepSpeed, the first electric outboard naval jet, it was in fact concluded successfully at around 3 million euros.
