Winds of peace are blowing on the markets. The most welcome and unexpected ones come from Korea. Donald Trump accepted the invitation to the meeting arrived from Kim Jong Un. The meeting should be held in May. It seems that North Korea's leaders are willing to scale back their nuclear program.
The relief serves to lower tensions on the tariff front. In the evening, after a long tug of war with Republican deputies hostile to protectionism, the President signed the act to introduce rates on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) imports but confirmed the exemption for Canada and Mexico. Donald Trump added that with friendly countries there will be "great flexibility and cooperation", therefore very soft tones, capable of removing the possibility of a real large-scale trade war. But Mario Draghi's warning is worth it: "If you impose duties on your allies, one wonders who your enemies are".
ECB LIKES THE SOFT EXIT FROM QE
Relaxed atmosphere on the markets after the ECB's decision to bid a soft farewell to Quantitative Easing. Yesterday the directorate of the Central Bank canceled any reference to possible increases in the bond buyback in the final statement. But the trend in inflation, slowing down compared to previous forecasts, sounds like a guarantee that rates will remain low for a long time in the Eurozone.
After the Frankfurt summit the euro weakened against the dollar to 1,231 (-0,8%) and is flat this morning.
BOJ CONFIRMS RATES BELOW ZERO
This morning the Bank of Japan confirmed its policy of sub-zero rates. Nor does the inflation target for 2019 change at 2%, an almost unattainable goal. The yen, the safe haven asset for Asia, weakened to 106,6 from 106,2 yesterday.
Share prices rise on news of the thaw between North Korea and the United States. Seoul's Kospi index rose (+1%), despite the declines of steel industry companies, affected by the announcement of tariffs by the White House. Tokyo's Nikkei index is starting to close up 0,1%, far from the highs of the session. China's stock markets rise: Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0,8%. CSI 300 index of Shanghai and Shenzhen +0,3%.
ON WALL STREET TODAY SPOTLIGHT ON WAGES INCREASE
The lessened tensions on tariffs allowed Wall Street to recover the initial losses in the evening. The Dow Jones closed up 0,38%, S&P 500 up 0,45%. NASDAQ +0,42%. The large aluminum producers who were hoping for more severe decisions were disappointed: Century Aluminum retreated by 7,5%.
Attention turns to today's payroll data: the jump in hourly wages in the United States, recorded in January, helped to trigger the sharp correction in early February.
TENARIS (+2,4%) THANKS TO MEXICO'S DUTIES EXEMPTION
The only sector in the red was energy (-0,1%). Brent oil lost 1,1% to 63,6 dollars a barrel.
At Piazza Affari Eni +0,2%. Tenaris +2,4% "pardoned" by Trump's decision to exempt Canada and Mexico from the protectionist measures of the White House. The company is building a large manufacturing facility in Texas and raw materials should come from Mexico.
THE ECB GIVES THE BOOST TO THE EXCHANGES: MILAN +1,15%
The orientation that emerged from the Frankfurt meeting, in favor of a very gradual exit from the current expansionary monetary policy, was welcomed by the market. In Milan, the Ftse Mib index closed the session with an increase of 1,15% to 22.731 points, second among the European lists (all growing by about 0,5% upwards) only in Paris (+1,28 %). Frankfurt (+0,9%), London (+0,63%) and Madrid (+0,49%) lag behind.
The new quarterly forecasts by the staff arrived from the ECB meeting, substantially in line with those of last December, with the exception of the growth estimates for 2018 (which moved to 2,4% from the previous 2,3%) and those for the next year's inflation fell to 1,4% from 1,5% in December.
Speaking of inflation, Draghi said underlying inflation remains weak, adding that the euro zone economy still has a large degree of monetary accommodation.
THE SPREAD DOWN TO 126 POINTS. 8,75 BILLION BTP ARRIVES
At the end of the session, the Italian 2-year rate was trading below 1,980% yesterday, at 2,044%, from 126,10% at the end of Wednesday's session, while the spread with the Bund with the same maturity stood at 3,37 basis points (-XNUMX .XNUMX%).
With the markets closed, the Treasury announced the terms of the medium-long term auctions scheduled for Tuesday 13 March. Between 7,25 and 8,75 billion euros will be offered in BTPs with different maturities: 3 and 15 years in addition to the new 7-year BTP (May 2025) and the 30-year off-the-run.
FLY MEDIASET. TODAY THE MEETING BETWEEN GENISH AND THE ELLIOTT FUND
The developments in the matches on Mediaset and Telecom Italia, more than ever intertwined with each other, gave the charge to Piazza Affari.
Mediaset achieved an increase of 9,23%, to 3,338 euros, following the words of Tim's chairman, Arnaud de Puyfontaine, that a merger between the two companies would make "a lot of sense".
Paradoxically, the advance of the Elliott activist fund on the Telecom Italia front (+4,63% to 0,827 euro), the highest since September, makes this hypothesis more concrete.
Today, as he revealed to Amos Genish, there will be a meeting in London between the fund's management and representatives on the sidelines of the road show to present the group's new business plan.
Meanwhile, Paul Singer's company has already accumulated, through options and derivatives, a stake of more than 10% with the aim of aggregating the investors already present in the capital to make Tim a real public company with independent management.
One of Elliott's key points would be about the net and Sparkle. While Tim's proposal is limited for now to creating a network company 100% controlled by Tim, the spin-off model Elliott is inspired by is much more radical and would involve, through the listing of the asset and Telecom Sparkle, the total exit from the capital and entry of a reference public shareholder.
AGREEMENT TESTS IN ABERTIS. ATLANTIA TAKES FLIGHT
Another match has entered, after a long stalemate, into a decisive phase. Atlantia achieved a 5% increase after the confirmation of talks with ACS for the division of Abertis assets (-3,97%). The objective of the negotiation, revealed by the newspaper El Expansion, is to avoid a costly war of relaunch.
In the Benetton galaxy, Autogrill's leap forward (+3,2%) should also be noted after accounts in line with expectations and plan indications for 2018.
ALIERTA LEAVES MEDIOBANCA. CREDEM PUNTA BANCO DESIO
Banks moved in line with the rest of the European sector, up 0,6%. Highlights Banco Bpm (+1,95%) and Bper (+1,64%), awarded by Goldman Sachs. Mediobanca +0,41%. Yesterday evening Cesar Alierta, former CEO of Telefonica, resigned from the Board on which he sat as an independent.
Of note is the Banco di Desio balk (+6,64%) after the declarations of the general manager of Credem (+1,79%) on the interest in the Brianza institute which, however, denies the existence of a dossier on matter.
Poste Italiane's rally (+2,5%) continues to run at an all-time high. Equita Sim confirmed the hold recommendation and the target price at 8,1 euros.
RECORD PERFORMANCE FOR STM, DIASORIN. ERG AT THE HIGHEST SINCE 2008
In the rest of the list, note the positive performance of Stm (+4,65%), at the top of the sector (+1,8%) and Diasorin (+4,18%) after the announcement of the distribution of an extraordinary dividend .
The prospect of a trade war between the United States and the rest of the world has weighed down on industrialists, starting with the Agnelli group. Negative Ferrari (-0,6%), flat Fiat Chrysler. Only Cnh rises (+0,8%).
The results rewarded Brunello Cucinelli (+4,55%). Weak Ferragamo (-0,92%). Chairman Ferruccio Ferragamo said the new CEO will not be a family member or internal manager.
Leap for Erg (+6,29%) which, after the extraordinary coupon, has reached a 10-year high.
Euphoria at Juventus (+5,2%) after accessing the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
