Weak session and closing down for Piazza Affari, which today is among the worst in Europe -0,53%, 21.080 points, together with Madrid -0,6%. In the end, all the price lists suffer from Wall Street's change of pace, which after a well-tuned start, now dances on the line of parity. Paris -0,09%, with EssilorLuxottica that sells 2,64% due to disputes between shareholders and after Delfin requested arbitration; Frankfurt +0,08%. London is up +0,58%.
Uncertainty remains the keynote of these sessions, due to the signs of a slowdown, of commercial tariffs (with the negotiations in progress in Beijing), of Brexit. On the macroeconomic front, the US GDP for the fourth quarter of 2018 has been revised downwards: +2,2%, against +2,6% expected.
Concerns are greater in the eurozone with the disappointing preliminary data on German inflation in March: +0,4% compared to February and +1,3% on an annual basis. The S&P Global rating agency also cuts its 2019 forecasts for the single currency area: +1,1% from +1,1% estimated in December, mainly due to the slowdown in Germany and Italy. Italy is still the worst: +0,1%, from +0,7% previously estimated. According to Christine Lagarde, director general of the IMF, the euro area "is more prepared" and more "resilient than 10 years ago" in the event of an unexpected economic storm, "but it is not resilient enough. The banking system is safer, but not safe enough." The euro remains weak against the dollar, with the exchange rate around 1,122. On the other hand, the pound is down (0,857), while tomorrow a new debate in the House of Commons is on the agenda on the Brexit agreement, which has already been rejected twice by the deputies. Theresa May offers her resignation and tries to get a ratification vote, hoping for a majority.
Oil down, while Donald Trump writes on Twitter: “It is very important that OPEC increases the flow of oil. World markets are fragile, the price of crude oil is getting too high! Thank you". Brent -0,95%, 66,6 dollars a barrel. Wti -0,89%, 58,88 dollars a barrel. Plunging gold at 1289,35 dollars an ounce (-1,5%).
The ups and downs on the Ftse Mib: the best blue chips are Juventus +1,79%; Leonardo +1,48%; Diasorin +1,3%; Mediobanca +1,1%. Male Stm, -3,52%, which increases the losses of the day before; Recordati -3,46%; Banco Bpm -2,33%; FCA -2,05%, while seems to vanish a future with Renault.
The bond is stable. The yield on the Italian 2,48-year bond is XNUMX%; the spread slightly decreased with the Bund, at 254.10 points, -0,74%. On the primary, the Treasury assigned all the 6,5 billion euro of medium-long term BTPs offered at auction this morning, but the rate on the 5-year maturity marked a sharp rise to 1,71% from 1,59 % of previous placement. The rate on the 10-year BTP instead dropped to 2,61% from 2,81%. Overall demand for BTPs exceeded 8,7 billion. Ccteu also sold for one billion euros at a rate of 1,83%.
Maria Teresa Scorzoni, thank you for this post. Its very inspiring.