Mario Draghi warms up the bags and Milan, since yesterday beyond the psychological threshold of 18000 basis points, closes again today on the shields at +1,64%. The spread fluctuates after the Moody's racing agency last night lowered the outlook on Italian debt from "stable" to "negative". At the end of the day, however, there is the great recovery of the ten-year BTP on the German bund: spread at 147.80; -5,86%; yield at 2.02%.
All of Europe celebrates the decisions of the ECB, also promoted by the Monetary Fund: the extension of Quantitative Easing to all of 2017, slowing down the purchase program starting in March, going from 80 to 60 billion a month, but with the possibility of further intervention if needed. The Qe slows down, but lengthens the path. The choice can be interpreted in several ways and someone talks about tapering, even if Draghi specifies that tapering was not discussed in today's meeting. On balance, confidence prevails: Madrid +2,09%; Frankfurt 1,76%; Paris +0,96%; London +0,37%. Optimism is also infecting Wall Street which, after some uncertainty, is still sailing towards new records.
The euro is losing ground against the dollar, -1,37%, traded at 1,060, but the single currency remains solid and the political situation in Italy does not put the area at risk, according to Super Mario. “Each country – says Draghi – has different vulnerabilities, but both the macroeconomic context compared to five years ago, when we had a contagion, and the financial markets and intermediaries, are more resilient and stronger. Problems, even if important, must urgently find a solution, but they remain limited to individuals". This means doing your homework: “The vulnerabilities of Italy's banking system date back a long time, so they need to be fixed. I am confident that the new government will know what to do and that these problems will be solved.'
Renzi or not Renzi, reforms must be made: “Regardless of political uncertainty because the best way to deal with uncertainty is to restore growth and create jobs”. And bank shares are on fire in Piazza Affari, too, because the prospect of an omnibus decree is strengthening, a "parachute for Siena and for three-four other institutions through precautionary recapitalization or instruments similar to Monti bonds", as Milano Finanza writes .
Mps closes at +4,11%, while the European Central Bank also decides on an extension until January for the implementation of the plan; People of Milan +10,09%; Banco Popolare 9,75%; Banca Mediolanum +7,73%; Ubi +3,38%; UniCredit +2,98%. Intesa Sanpaolo also rallied, 3,36%, while Reuters reports that the bank "should provide a substantial part of the financing to the consortium formed by Qatar and Glencore for the purchase of the stake in the Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft". The institute also wins the award “Bank of the Year 2016 in Italy” of the authoritative London economic-financial monthly The Banker.
Among financials, Generali strengthens again +4,58%. Also noteworthy is Stm +4,76%. Worst stocks of the day at the Ftse Mib are Terna, -2,10% and Saipem, -1,94%, the latter penalized by the news that Gazprom has signed a contract for the construction of the first underwater pipeline of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline with Allseas, thus preferring the Swiss company to the Italian group.
Finally, from the European front, news that indirectly concerns Volkswagen. The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against Germany and six other EU states for failing to set up penalty systems to discourage car makers from violating legislation on polluting emissions or for failing to apply such sanctions in case of violation of the law. In particular, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and the United Kingdom, the member states that have granted approvals for the Volkswagen AG group in the EU, are under procedure for "failing to apply their respective national provisions on sanctions, despite the company having used a software illegal use of defeat devices”.
