Weak bags waiting for the Fed. The attention of the markets is on the timing of the rise in US rates and on the tone that Janet Yellen will adopt. While London and Frankfurt close in positive territory (respectively at +0,58% and +0,50%), Paris and Milan end the session in the red. the Cac 40 lost 0,22% and the Ftse Mib 0,18%. The Btp-Bund spread drops to 103 basis points and a yield of 1,34%.
Also Wall Street the gear does not kick in, with the indices fluctuating around par: at the end of Europe, the Dow Jones drops by 0,16% and the S&P500 by 0,13%. In the spotlight Oracle which beat expectations on quarterly data and announced a $10 billion buyback.
Il Petroleum accelerates: Wti rises by 4,49% to 37,97 dollars a barrel and Brent by 4% to 40,29 dollars. In the US, crude oil inventories grew less than expected, by 1,317 million barrels to 523,178 million. Meanwhile, the market is awaiting the meeting scheduled for the 17th between Opec and non-Opec countries for an agreement on cutting production. On the macroeconomic front in the US consumer prices in February recorded a drop of 0,2% compared to the previous month, in line with forecasts. Prices were still affected by the drop in energy products. US industrial production fell 0,5% in February, more than the 0,2% decline estimated by analysts, while the capacity utilization rate came in at 76,7% from 77,1% in January, and compared to analysts' expectations at 76,9%.
In Piazza Affari it shines fca which rises by 2,5% after the good data on car registrations in Europe which showed a better performance above all for the Italian-American car manufacturer compared to the entire EU market. In any case, a positive day for the entire European auto sector also on the impetus of BMW's better-than-expected accounts. Highlights too Finmeccanica +2,05% on the day in which the data is expected to be released (with the Stock Exchange closed), Unipol +1,55%, Campari +1,29% to 8,635 euros after the intraday share reached an all-time high of 8,745 euros. The market rewards the acquisition of Grand Marnier. Eni +1,29%.
At the bottom of the Ftse Mib le banks: Banco Popolare -3,29%, Intesa Sanpaolo -2,19% and Banca Mediolanum -1,66%. Down too Luxottica -2,04%. Telecom Italy it slipped by 1,24% on the day when the two offers on the table to acquire a stake in Inwit, the tower company controlled by the TLC, are official. The Cellnex/F2i consortium, which filed its binding offer on 45% of the capital, is joined by the binding offer presented by Ei Towers, a company of the Mediaset group. According to sources close to the dossier, the proposal put forward by the Cellnex/F2i consortium would involve the launch of a mandatory takeover bid on the shares held by the minorities of Inwit while the offer by Ei Towers should be for a share just under 30%. The board meeting for the approval of the budget is scheduled for tomorrow and will now have to evaluate the two offers.
