DOLLAR SUPERSTAR, THE BAGS MISS. THE TRACK OF THE EMIRI SPEAKS ON TELECOM ITALIA
Heavy day for the stock markets with all the stock exchanges closing sharply lower. Two factors have stimulated sales: 1) the fear that the rate hike is approaching in the USA and Great Britain; 2) new tensions in Ukraine.
In the meantime, the dollar asphalted all the other currencies and strengthened against the euro to 1,27, a new two-year high: the exchange rate returned to the levels of November 2012. On the bond market, the US ten-year yield fell to 2,50%. Favoring the race on US government bonds is the yield gap with the German Bunds, never like this at the most for 15 years.
By extension: the end of the week down for the Tokyo Stock Exchange -1%. After the inflation data, which falls again, the markets are expecting a new wave of stimulus from the central bank. Cold shower on US price lists, thanks to Apple's plunge -3,8% after the problems that arose with the latest update of the iOS 8 operating system installed on the new iPhone6. In addition, some consumers have complained that the new iPhone6 bends if kept in the pocket for a long time. The correction was favored by the plunge in the durable goods index.
The Nasdaq index is down 1,94%. Also down was the Dow Jones -1,54%, and the S&P 500 by around 1,3%. Great expectations for the final reading of the American GDP expected for today.
UKRAINE WEIGHTS ON EUROPE: MILAN -1,3%
The Ukrainian chessboard is warming up again. Russian President Putin has sent a letter to the European Union in which he asks to review the agreement just signed by Brussels with Ukraine: Moscow's counter-sanctions to the embargo are closer. The London and Paris Stock Exchanges fell respectively by 1,1% and 1,3%, Frankfurt -1,5%. Madrid by 0,68.
In Milan, the FtseMib index fell by 1,3%, veering into negative ground after the opening of Wall Street. WTI-type oil trades at $92,3 a barrel, down 0,5%. Eni fell by 1,1%.
TAXES, LONDON IS READY TO RISE
The bet on the date of the first hike in US interest rates is favoring the run of the dollar. The (outgoing) chairman of the Dallas Federal Reserve, Richard Fisher, said it is more likely that rates will rise again sooner than expected rather than later. “That's my personal view, not the Fed's. If the economy continues to grow and unemployment goes down over the next six months, interest rates could be raised early next spring,” Fisher said.
The next rate hike is also on the agenda in Great Britain: the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has said that the time to raise rates is approaching. Opposite situation in Europe: Mario Draghi reiterated yesterday that the ECB is ready to intervene with further unconventional measures to combat low inflation.
TREASURE AUCTION, 6 MONTH BOT TOWARDS A SLIGHT INCREASE
Modest movements in eurozone government bonds. The spread between the BTP and the Bund rose slightly to 138 basis points and the domestic ten-year rate stood at 2,36%.
Two-faced performance on the first day of Treasury auctions: yield on the two-year Ctz issue rising, decreasing on the ten-year Btpei issue. Six-monthly bots for 7 billion euros will be offered today. A slightly rising yield is expected compared to the 0,136% recorded in the August auction. Next Monday, between 7 and 8,5 billion Ccteu and Btp at 5 and 10 years will be placed.
TELECOM ITALIA IN THE SIGHT OF SOL TRUJILLO
A roller coaster for Telecom Italia +0,1% after having jumped up to 0,96 euros (+5%) at the end of the morning. The title had accelerated following the indiscretions of Bloomberg on the maneuvers implemented by Sol Trujillo. The American manager who in the past was managing director of the French Orange and of the Australian Telstra, is allegedly trying to gather the resources to aim to take over the controlling share of Telecom Italia.
The consortium led by Trujillo, which should include the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and Abu Dhabi, could reach up to 7,5 billion euros, a figure that is worth, at current prices, about 43% of Telecom Italia's capitalisation. The Adriano project, this is the name of the dossier, could take the form of a reserved capital increase or market purchases. Upon completion of the transaction, Telecom Italia should focus on ultra-fast broadband and should find itself at the end of 2018 with 26 billion euros in revenues, 11 billion euros in Ebitda and a debt of less than 16 billion euros.
The board of directors of the Italian company meets today: the sale of Telecom Argentina and the update on developments in the Brazilian game are on the agenda.
FIAT PROMOTED BY MOODY'S ON WALL STREET
Among the few stocks that escaped the general decline, Fiat +1,7% to 8,01 euros. In the morning it had risen to 8,24 euros, a level it hadn't seen since May 2014 thanks to a report by Moody's on the automotive sector which provided good indications on the profitability of the Lingotto.
CNH Industrial, on the other hand, lost 2,93% to 5,97 euros with Equita which reduced the target price on the stock from 9,5 to 7,9 euros, confirming the buy recommendation. Today Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visits the Chrysler plant in Detroit.
Finmeccanica is on positive ground. The stock gains 1% while the transportation segment disposal plan arrives at the board of directors. Last week, the CEO Mauro Moretti said the company has received four non-binding offers for Ansaldo Breda and Ansaldo StS: -0,34%. The four offers come from Crn Insigma, Hitachi, Caf and Thales. A final decision will be made in October.
MARIE BOLLORE' AT MEDIOBANCA. UNICREDIT SUFFERS UKRAINE
Among the banks, Intesa -1,9%, MontePaschi -2,4%. Mediobanca -0,82%. Marie Bolloré will enter the new board of directors, representing her father Vincent. Unicredit closes down by 2,1% at 6,075 euros.
Some uncertainty linked to the slowdown of the Russian economy following the sanctions by Europe and the USA for the Ukraine affair continues to weigh on the bank. Unicredit is one of the busiest western banks in Eastern Europe, through its Austrian subsidiary Bank Austria. In an interview with the Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten, Bank Austria's head of Central and Eastern Europe, Gianni Franco Papa, says Western sanctions against Russia will have little impact on Bank Austria this year, but it cannot be still say if there will be a fallout on 2015.
SOCGEN PROMOTES ENEL. GOOD RATES FOR ITALCEMENTI
Limited decline for Enel, down by 0,7%. The upgrade of Socgen from hold to buy contributed to containing the losses, with the target price raised from 4,4 to 4,8 euros.
Italcementi rose today by 1,2% to 5,090 euros: Berenberg analysts raised the judgment to Buy from Sell, bringing the target price to 6,3 euros from the previous 6 euros. The new target price promises a 25% gain. Italcementi, the leading cement group in Italy, capitalizes 1,8 billion euros. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has fallen by 3,8%.
The luxury companies were down sharply, Ferragamo -2,3%, Tod's -2,8%, Luxottica -2%, Moncler -4,2%, Yoox -3,2%.
