A nightmare Monday ends for the European stock exchanges, hit and sunk by the spread of the epidemic and the fear of the coronavirus. Business Square is the worst, -5,45%, 23.422 basis points and burns all 2020 gains, dragging with it Frankfurt -3,98%; Paris -3,94%; Madrid -4%; London -3,33% Zurich -3,59%. The most affected sectors are transport, retail, luxury, but banks are also not doing well.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Wall Street it is moving in deep red, after a heavily negative opening especially on technology. Losses are currently over 3% for the Nasdaq and around 2,8% for DJ e S & P 500. Apple it dropped 4,45%.
On the currency market theeuro-dollar it is little moved and trades at 1,085. The single currency remains weak and suffers above all against the yen, with the cross falling to 120,06.
Worries sink the Petroleum: Brent -5%, 55,05 dollars a barrel. On the other hand, the race for safe-haven assets rewards , which rises to a 7-year high: 1676,25 dollars an ounce +1,66%. The same can be said for US government bonds, whose prices are rising sharply, while the 1,371-year yield moves to 1,360%, close to its all-time lows (XNUMX%). However, there is a sharpening of the yield curve inversion, an event traditionally considered as an anticipatory sign of a recession.
The session is negative for Italian government bonds. The spread between the 10-year BTP and the Bund with the same duration, it rises to 144 basis points (+6,65%), with the yield of the Italian benchmark rising to 0,96%.
On the other hand, Italy is the country where the epidemic that started from China has currently reached the greatest diffusion in Europe, with the number of cases and deaths growing by the hour. The WHO is also concerned about the Italian situation and has announced the arrival of a team to assess the situation for tomorrow. The spread in the world, at the moment, is not such as to be defined as a "pandemic" says the World Health Organization, even if the risk looms.
At least Beijing has announced that no new cases have been reported today, but in the rest of the world the number of victims is growing in South Korea, Iran and Italy.
In the boot, Covid-19 has hit the most dynamic area of the country and the repercussions on already fragile growth seem inevitable, due to the blockage or slowdown in activities. An attempt is therefore made to deal with the situation: the Ministry of the Economy has set up an internal task force to monitor the impact of the disease and prepare the necessary measures and is preparing a decree for the suspension of tax payments and obligations in the eleven Municipalities affected by the urgent measures to contain the infection.
China has already done a lot in this period and will now make "dynamic adjustments" to its monetary policy measures, in particular regarding the reduction of minimum reserve requirements for banks, in order to provide support.
Returning to Piazza Affari, the main price list closes entirely in red. The worst blue chip is the Juventus, -11,04%, which presented disappointing results in the first half of 2019-2020, with a net loss of 50,26 million euros. Future revenues are at risk if matches are suspended or stadiums closed, and in the meantime the match against Inter will probably be played behind closed doors.
ALSO READ: Piazza Affari here is the black list of stocks that have lost the most
Goes down the luxury with Ferragamo -9,34%. The negative phase continues Azimuth, -7,05%, already penalized on Friday by the sale of a stake by Timone Fiduciaria. Heavy losses for Cnh -7,38%; nexi -8,15%; Saipem -7,51%. Banks count wounded from Ubi -6,55%, while the hypothesis that the Ops of Understanding (-5,93%) can be successful. The group of Brescia shareholders, which holds 8,4% of the bank, has postponed tonight's meeting on Intesa's offer to the earliest possible date. The executive committee of the Patto dei Mille instead "evaluated the public exchange offer launched by Intesa Sanpaolo negatively, believing that the exchange hypothesis - 17 Intesa Sp shares against 10 Ubi - significantly underestimates the intrinsic value of the Ubi share and does not consider its income prospects adequately. Thus in a note of the agreement that brings together some shareholders from Bergamo, for a total of 1,6% of the bank's capital, among which the former chairman of the management board of UBI Emilio Zanetti stands out.
Meanwhile Fitch confirms the rating on Intesa, BBB with a negative outlook.
Unicredit it loses 4,28%, but apparently CEO Jean Pierre Mustier remains. Outside the main list: Mps -10,24%.
Among the “best” titles Telecom -3,93% and utilities, Terna -3,79%.
