The dynamics of the markets in Italy continue to weaken afterwards worse-than-expected data on economic performance in the first quarter. While pressure is recreating on our government bonds (spread at 426), attempts at a partial rebound on the Milan Stock Exchange are extinguished after yesterday's sharp drop and in the late morning the Ftse-Mib drops again with -0,31% .
MOODY'S AX ON 26 ITALIAN BANKS
WALL STREET AND TOKYO DOWN. EUROS AT 1,2828
The response of the rating agencies to the criticisms made yesterday at the Consob meeting since President Joseph Vegas she was not long in coming: yesterday evening, after the closure of Wall Street, Moody's downgraded the rating of 26 Italian banks. Compared to similar previous decisions there is something new: the downgrade is not motivated only by the difficulties of the public debt but by the economic situation because the sector operates "in increasingly unfavorable conditions" given that "the austerity line pursued by the government reduces in the short end the demand of the economy”. Added to this is another factor, even more dramatic: the difficulty of supplying the banking system which now it is financed only from the ECB. If the phenomenon were to last, notes Moody's, it will be inevitable for the banks to "reduce their activities, with relative damage to their ability to operate and earn".
Il downgrade, which in practice spares no one, divides the banks into four categories: 1) Intesa and Unicredit, the least affected, drop by just one step and keep the A3 rating for deposits; 2) a second group, which includes Ubi, slips to Baa2 but "is able to deal with the recession better than the average"; 3) a third group, headed by Banco Popolare, will be grappling with a negative combination of capital scarcity and insufficient cash generation; 4) the fourth group, into which Monte Paschi fell (downgraded by two steps), faces the most demanding challenges "often due to the quality of the assets, capital and/or financing problems".
Last call for Greece: either you form the government or you go to the elections. Meanwhile today, May 15, a tranche of 436 million bonds to be repaid to international creditors expires. The bonds in question were issued in London and comply with the laws of the City: in the event of default, the request for default will be triggered. But if, using a large portion of the cash on hand (1,9 billion in all), Athens repays the creditor hedge funds, it will spark controversy over the privileged treatment guaranteed to speculation and, even more, it will risk not having the money in its pocket needed to pay salaries and pensions next month.
La Wall Street indices close in the red, still in shock from the JP Morgan case, ended a horrible day, yet another for the financial markets: Dow Jones -0,98%, S&P 500 -1,11%, Nasdaq -1,06%. Standard & Poor's plunged to its lowest since February.
Il President Obama, during a TV interview, underlined the need to accelerate the reform of Wall Street. “Jamie Dimon – he said – he is our best banker, JP Morgan is certainly well managed. And yet he lost two billion dollars…”.
Asia is also declining. Tokyo loses about 1%, the European crisis weighs heavily on raw material producers: the giant Bhp Billiton loses 2,6 percent in Sydney. The exception is Hong Kong, slightly above parity, thanks to the easing of the credit crunch in China. But worries are the slowdown in Beijing's economy, whose growth rate in April was at its lowest since 2009. Futures on the S&P are up +0,3%: a rise is likely at the opening of US lists.
THEeuro, retreating against the dollar, is trading in Asia at 1,2828. In the last eleven sessions, the single currency has lost more than 3% and is at the lows of mid-January against the greenback, at the lows since December 2008 against the pound (0,79895).
Ma the epicenter of the crisis, as usual, was Europe, hit by dramatic news arriving from Greece, Spain and by the political defeat of Angela Merkel, who is preparing to receive François Hollande today.
The uncertainty has triggered sales especially on peripheral markets: in Business Square the FtseMib index fell by 2,7%, the Madrid Ibex index lost 2,6%. London and Frankfurt suffered losses of 1,9%, Paris -2,2%.
Also on the government bond market the suffering of the peripheral countries is exacerbating, although Italy managed to place 3,5 billion BTPs in March 2015 (maximum of the range) with a yield of 3,91% from 3,89% in mid-April.
Lo XNUMX-year Btp/Bund spread however, it jumped forward by 26 basis points to 423, for a yield on the 10-year BTP at 5,67% (during the session it rose to a maximum of 5,73%).
Today the board of directors of Fonsai -6,7%, having taken note of the indications of the independent committee (updated to this morning after a river meeting), will vote on the exchange proposal with Unipol shares and will discuss the alternative offer from Sator and Palladio.
Intesa Sanpaolo he is not working with the Palladio-Sator consortium on the Fonsai operation. This was stated by the managing director of the banking group Enrico Cucchiani speaking with journalists on the sidelines of a conference on innovation in the Chamber.
At Piazza Affari, in the banking sector sales hit Unicredit, down 4,9%. Intesa fell by 3,5%, Banco Popolare -2,5%, Mediobanca -2,1%. positive MontePaschi + 1,3%.
Among the most penalized stocks Mediolanum -6,9%.
Industrial stocks also fell sharply: Finmeccanica it finished down 4,2%, StM 5%, Prysmian -4,4%, Fiat -4%.
All utilities were negative with the exception of A2A up 4,5%. Enel lost 2,8%, Enel Green Power -5,1%, Snam -1,2%, Terna -1,3%.
Tough day for Telecom Italy , which finished down 4,6%.
Long meeting of the Rcs Media Group board of directors who decided to continue negotiations for the cession of Flammarion: offers from Gallimard and Albin Michel remain in the running. Thus the prospect of a capital increase is removed. No decision on the choice of CEO. In pole position, among the external candidates, Pietro Scotto Jovine, current CEO of Microsoft Italy and, among the internal candidates, the current deputy general manager Riccardo Stilli.
Eni fell by 2,6%, the subsidiary Saipem lost 1,8%.
Among the few positive titles, Diasorin earned 2,7%.
Good morning it rallied 13% after the announcement of a 100% stake offer by Japan's NTT Docomo.
Down too Salvatore Ferragamo -1,04% which also closed the first quarter with a net profit, including minority interests, of 17 million euro, up 10,2%. Revenues, according to a note from the luxury group, rose by 23,4% to 259,6 million, Ebitda stood at 38,2 million (+39,6%). At constant exchange rates, revenue growth for the quarter was 19,1%.
Il final duel in Impregilo between the Salini group and Gavio will take place on July 12, the date of the convocation of the assembly requested by Salini for the revocation of the current board of directors. Meanwhile, yesterday the board co-opted Barbara Poggiali, Alfredo Scotti and Nigel W. Cooper to replace the directors representing the Benetton group, Giovanni Castellucci, Fabio Cerchiai and Nigel W. Cooper
