FIAT AND BTP, DOUBLE CHARGE FOR THE BULL BUT CHINESE BRAKING STUFFES THE RISE
Two flashes of Italian light inaugurated the financial 2014. Shine the star of Fiat +16,4% in a stock market sky full of clouds. The stock dominated the scene after the agreement with Veba to acquire 41,4616% in the hands of the pension fund of the American union Uaw in an operation worth 4,35 billion dollars. Within the year, hypothesizes the Financial Times, Fiat-Chrysler will apply for admission to the NYSE, following the same formula tested with CNH Industrial: listing on Wall Street (secondary square in Milan), registered office in Amsterdam, tax domicile in London. The placement on Wall Street will be preceded by the issue of a 1-1,5 billion dollar convertible, according to rumors.
The other positive note comes from the bond market: yesterday the dthe Btp/Bund spread fell to 204 basis points, at its lowest since July 2011. The yield on the 10-year BTP slipped below 4% for the first time since last May.
SHANGHAI WEIGHING ON OIL …AND COGNAC. BOUNCE GOLD
On the international front, the signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy are still taking place. After yesterday's disappointing manufacturing data, this morning there are new worrying signs of a decline in activity on the services front. And so Hong Kong loses 1,2%, but the drop in the Chinese stock market is as much as 2,4%. Shanghai is also down 1%. Among the consequences of the Chinese slowdown are the 2% drop in the price of Wti-type oil to 96,5 dollars and Brent to 108,8 dollars and the rebound of gold +0,6%, coming off its worst year . Less important but still significant is the ouster of the chief executive of Remy Cointreau, a victim of the decline in sales of cognac in China.
WALL STREET DEPRESSED, WAITING FOR BERNANKE
Depressed start to the year on Wall Street, waiting for the speech, one of the last to serve as Fed chairman. The Dow Jones fell 0,82%, the S&P 500 0,89% and the Nasdaq 0,80 %. Among individual stocks, Apple leads the declines among technology with a drop of 1,3% after the rejection of 'market perform' by 'outperform' by Wells Fargo. The title of the Cupertino company drags both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq downwards, while the S&P technology index loses 1%. In Europe, London lost half a point, decreases of around 1,5% for Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid. The Stoxx 600 index, down 1,4%, had opened higher, reaching a new five-year high in the morning.
MILAN LIMITS DAMAGES. THE RUSH OF FONSAI AND YOOX CONTINUES
Thanks to the Lingotto, the Milan Stock Exchange limited the damage: Ftse Mib index -0,15% Among the insurance companies once again the queen was Fondiaria Sai +3,5%. The deed of merger by incorporation of Unipol, Milano Assicurazioni and Premafin into Fondiaria Sai was stipulated on 31 December, which will take on the company name of “UnipolSai Assicurazioni”. The merger will be effective from 6 January. General -1,05%. In the banking segment, Intesa -0,6%, Unicredit +0,1%, Banca Popolare di Milano -0,8%, Ubi Banca -1,9%. In the luxury sector, Yoox +3% and Moncler +2% are flying at record levels. Safilo +4%. Tod's -1,5%. Geox +2,8%. Atlantia rises by 1,2% after the go-ahead from the two ministries responsible for the increase in motorway tolls.
ROUGH START FOR UTILITIES AND ENERGY. BAD REMOTE
Rain of sales on the utility sector. Enel closed down by 1,2%, but Iren fared worse -1,35% and A2A -1,7%. The general decline was in line with the performance of the Stoxx index of utilities which was affected by the decline of the German Rwe. According to Handelsblatt, the company is preparing to propose to the shareholders a capital increase in the order of 10% on current values. Complicated start to the year also for Eni -1% in the wake of both the fall in crude oil prices and new problems in Kazakhstan. The Kashagan oil field, whose production is suspended due to leaks in the pipes, is grappling with a bureaucratic "nightmare" that could put engineers in difficulty trying to restart commercial production in 2014. Among the worst in the Ftse Mib Telecom Italia positioned itself with a drop of 1,73% to 0,7085 euro. Credit Suisse has restarted the coverage of the share with a neutral rating and a target price of 0,7 euros per share, however believing that the pressure on the "wireline" business is still growing.
