The celebration of the markets close to or above the historical highs continues, albeit with some hesitation. Asia and Wall Street are marching at full speed and appreciate the vigorous attitude with which President Biden is tackling the pandemic, imposing the use of the mask in public offices in all states, even if a battle is already looming in the Senate over the 1.900 billion stimuli promoted by Biden.
But the yellow note comes from the ECB: the euro rises, reinvigorated by the hint of a reduction in emergency monetary aid contained in yesterday's ECB statement. A change of course? Definitely not, if anything an invitation to those countries, Italy in the lead, which have relied only on the EU safety net, without however adopting attitudes consistent with the recovery. The euro-dollar gained half a point, before slowing down to 1,217, +0,1%.
HONG KONG +3,2% IN THE WEEK
Tokyo's Nikkei loses 0,3% in the final week with positive balance, +0,5%. The Hang Seng is down 1,4%, but it is the best index over the five days, with an increase of 3,2%. CSI 300 index of Shanghai and Shenzen -0,5%: +1,5% the balance for the week. Kospi of Seoul -0,2%: +2,5% per week.
The S&P500 (+0,03%) and Nasdaq (+0,55%) closed on new highs. Only a slowdown in the final of the Dow Jones (-0,04%) prevents the treble.
RUNS INTEL, COLD SHOWER ON IBM
On Wall Street, shortly before the closing, Intel's data arrived by surprise, released a few hours early due to an intrusion into computer systems. The stock closed up 6,5%. Chief Financial Officer George Davis said demand for chips for laptops will also be buoyant in the first two quarters of the year. The Californian semiconductor manufacturer has also warned that within a couple of years it will produce a large part of what it sells internally. Following this announcement, stocks of companies working on behalf of the big names in chips, such as the giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (-3,5%) suffered tonight.
In Wall Street after hour, International Business Machines released its fourth quarter results. Revenue fell 6,5% to $20,4 billion, slightly below forecasts ($20,7 billion). The stock was down 7% in post-close trading.
Brent oil is down 1% to $55,6.
LAGARDE: ACCELERATE YOUR RECOVERY PLAN
On the day of communications from the European Central Bank, to justify the slowdown at the end of the price lists was a passage in the Eurotower press release which states that the emergency fund against the pandemic, the PEPP, does not necessarily have to be used in full. But the observation is not entirely new, having already been made by the ECB in December. Christine Lagarde, without ever mentioning Italy directly, urged governments to make the Recovery operational without delay and to design the relaunch in such a way as to "resolve structural or institutional weaknesses and accelerate the digital and green transition".
For the rest, no surprises: rates remain unchanged because inflation remains "extremely low", only 1,2% in 2023. Pasquale Diana, of AComeA, comments that "with rates at zero and an expansion of unprecedented liquidity, the ECB sees core inflation at just over half of its medium-term target”. The vaccination campaign "is an important step" to overcome the pandemic, said Lagarde, but Covid "continues to pose serious risks to the economy" and "a contraction in GDP is expected in the fourth quarter".
MILAN BLACK JERSEY, TECH UP
Piazza Affari loses 0,98% to 22.428 points, penalized by some profit-taking and by oil companies and banks in decline.
The other markets were in the red: Frankfurt fell by 0,25%, Paris -0,67%, Madrid -0,99%, London -0,43%.
Tech stocks advanced 0,7%, extending the rally for a second consecutive session, led by software maker Sage Group, which jumped 5,3% after rising quarterly revenues.
FRANCE, GOOGLE-PUBLISHERS AGREEMENT
Google has reached an agreement with theAlliance de la Presse d'Information Générale, which represents 300 news organizations in France, on the guidelines for paying for content. The internet giant will be able to negotiate with individual publishers.
CELLNEX, THE GAME OF TOWERS STARTS AGAIN
Phone tower maker Cellnex was up 4,1%, while German telecom group Deutsche Telekom gained 0,7% after the two firms announced plans to integrate tower operations in the Netherlands.
LAGARDE ATTACKS BITCOIN AGAIN
Bitcoin falls: -11%, to 31.115 dollars. The president of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, believes that Bitcoin is a "speculative" asset, often used for "laundering". A few days earlier, Janet Yellen had also expressed a similar point.
BTP SALES, 4 BILLION CTZ AT AUCTION
Day of sales on bonds, in particular on the Btp: the yield rises to 0,70%, +8 basis points. Bund at -0,49%, +3 basis points. Spread at 120 basis points, from 115 yesterday: we are at the highs of the last month.
At the January 26 auction, the Treasury will offer up to 4 billion Ctz and Btpei
LANDSLIDE AUTOGRILL (-13%): INCREASE OF 600 MILLION COMING SOON
The landslide of Autogrill (-13%) after the announcement of a capital increase of 600 million euro is impressive.
OIL UNDER FIRE: SAIPEM -5%
Oils are down sharply: Eni -2,6%, Tenaris -3,3%, Saipem -5%. Leonardo also down: -4%.
COSTAMAGNA CHARGES FERRAGAMO
At the head of the list Salvatore Ferragamo (+6%). The Board of the parent company Ferragamo Finanziaria has co-opted Claudio Costamagna to replace the outgoing Giuseppe Anichini, also proposing a reduction in the number of directors with a parallel increase in the seats reserved for independent directors. The change of statute could also anticipate a change of ownership, a recurring theme and always denied by the Ferragamo family. Moncler (+1,9%).
Positive day for Diasorin (+1,5%) and Campari (+1,2%). A2A+ 0,6%.
BENEFIT TAKEN ON STELLANTIS
Profit-taking on Stellantis started (-2,17%, at 13,646 euros), after the rise accumulated in the previous three sessions. Kepler Cheuvreux analysts have set a target price of 18 euros on the automotive group.
Telecom's board of directors (-1,1%) expressed its opinion on the composition of the new administrative body that the shareholders' meeting will have to appoint for the next three years. At the same time, a mandate was assigned to the president Salvatore Rossi to coordinate the preparatory activities for the definition of a list of candidates proposed by the Board itself.
MEDIOBANCA, THE WITHDRAWAL OF BOLLORÉ CONTINUES
In general, I discount bankers. The decline of Bper Banca stands out (-1,76%, to 1,62 euros). Vincent Bolloré reduced his stake in Mediobanca to 2,769% from 4,347%.
