It dates back there coronavirus fever on the markets, on the day when, surprisingly, Lombardy also recorded 6 cases, 5 of which were serious. European stock markets close in the red, after an acceleration downwards following the negative performance of Wall Street. Piazza Affari is the worst, -1,22%, 24.773 points; more contained damages in Frankfurt -0,64%; Paris -0,54%; Madrid -0,45%; London -0,41%.
Eurozone governments do struggles to find an agreement on the post-Brexit budget, while in the US the macroeconomic data is disappointing, as activity in the services sector contracted surprisingly in February while manufacturing activity reached a 6-month low. But in the background remain above all the unknowns on the developments of the Covid-19 epidemic and its economic repercussions. Some have been seen today: -92% the drop in registrations in China in the first 16 days of February.
On the epidemic front, the news of the day is the debut of virus in Lombardy, near Emilia-Romagna. At the moment it seems that there are six people infected, five of them in serious condition. The security measures were taken immediately: 250 people placed in isolation and the invitation to the citizens of Castiglione d'Adda, Casalpusterlengo and Codogno not to leave the house. In the latter location, schools, bars and clubs are closed.
The origin of the infection is not clear and the World Health Organization has expressed concern for cases registered outside China "without a clear epidemiological link". To deal with further surprises, the Italian health ministry has established the obligation of "fiduciary" home quarantine for those returning from a trip to China and "active surveillance" for those who have been in risk areas.
The situation favors investments in gold, with bullion climbing to 1642,15 dollars an ounce (+1,34%). On the other hand, pessimism returns to oil demand and Brent yields 1,84%, falling to 58,22 dollars a barrel. On the currency market, the dollar is down after the manufacturing and services PMI data. The euro climbs to a four-day high and trades at 1,085.
Risk aversion favors bonds. The Italian card is appreciated, despite the fibrillation in the majority and the spread between Italian and German ten-year bonds falls to 134 basis points (-1,93%); the yield of the BTP falls to 0,91%.
In Piazza Affari there are only six positive titles on the main list. Telecom, +3,79%, is the queen share of the session, following Press leaks about KKR's interest, one of the largest US infrastructure funds, which would like to purchase "a minority stake in the secondary network, i.e. the copper and fiber infrastructure that runs from the street cabinet right up to the homes of Italians".
Good Nexi, +1,45%. Slight progress for Campari +0,35%; Atlantia +0,18%; Enel +0,13%; Post office +0,09%. Sales sink Azimut, -5,83% and Finecobank -3,29% in managed savings. Among the oil stocks, Tenaris sinks -4,44%, which yesterday held up to weak 2020 forecasts.
Down Prysmian -3,9%. The banks lose much of the attraction shown at the beginning of the week, after the offer of Intesa (-1,12%) on UBI (-0,38%). Unicredit, -3,89%, is the worst in the wake of exit rumors of CEO Mustier in the direction of HSBC.
