"Piazza Affari suffers from the cacophony that comes out of the Democratic Party". Giuseppe Sersale, strategist of Anthilia, allows himself this image to explain the setback in Piazza Affari, the result of the confusion weighing on the banks. Wall Street, on the contrary, concedes the ninth: in the last ten sessions, Standard & Poor's closed with a plus sign. This is the longest streak of positive results for US stocks since 2013.
It's not just yesterday's record: the FTSE Global index has reached a new high, confirming that the rise of the American markets has now infected all stock lists. Meanwhile, the president does not let a day go by without hosting a delegation of CEOs. Yesterday it was the turn of the managers of the consumer industry who heard the usual mantra repeated: taxes will soon come down, a music that hasn't gotten boring yet.
Procter & Gamble, in fact, greets the meeting with Big Donald with a rise of 3,71%. Of course, the forthcoming rate hike, confirmed by Janet Yellen in yesterday's hearing in Parliament, could put a stop to so much euphoria, but in the meantime Wall Street has confirmed itself as the most solid ally of the President, increasingly embarrassed by ties with Russia and the flop of the immigration law.
CHARITY TAKES IN TOKYO. YELLEN CONFIRMS RATES RISE
Stock market forecast still signals widespread increases, but overbought clouds are looming on the horizon. The Asian price lists are weak. The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed down 0,2% this morning. Hong Kong gains 0,4%. Another closing up for American stocks: the Dow Jones index increases by 0,52%, S&P 500 +0,50%. The Nasdaq rose 0,64%.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reiterated yesterday that it would be unwise to wait any longer to raise interest rates. The tax cut, you added, will have positive effects on growth, but the public debt risks rising further. Yellen also touched on the very delicate issue of immigration: new arrivals, she said, have supported growth.
Contrasted economic data yesterday. The New York Fed's 'Empire State' manufacturing index improved in February to its highest level since September 2014. Inflation in January climbed to 2,5% above the 2,4% expected from 2,1 % of previous month. Industrial production is down, down 0,3% in January. Analysts estimated a unchanged figure.
BUFFET MAKES THE AIRLINES FLY. SNAP IS WORTH UP TO $22,2 BILLION
Apple's race also continues (+0,5%) to a new all-time high of $136,2. The latest data from the research firm Gartner on global smartphone sales has pushed the stock market price, which sees the Cupertino company regaining the first position in terms of market share, after eight consecutive quarters spent chasing the Korean Samsung.
Warren Buffet has sent airline prices off the ground: Southwest, United Continental, American Airlines and Delta rose between 2 and 4% after the news that Berkshire Hathaway has invested 2,1 billion in each of the companies.
The IPO of Snap is approaching. The company, the first to offer only non-voting securities, will have an initial valuation of between 19,5 and 22,2 billion.
Oil is weak after the increase in stocks (9,5 million barrels more than last week). Brent drops to 55,67 dollars (-30 cents), Wti to 52,94. In Piazza Affari strong sales on Saipem (-2,66%) and Eni (-1,10%).
ONLY MILAN IN RED. WORSEN THE SPREAD
Closing up yesterday also for the European stock exchanges. However, Piazza Affari made exceptions: in Milan, the FtseMib index fell by 0,69%. Paris rose by 0,5%, Frankfurt +0,1%. Crédit Agricole stands out (+4,7%), after the publication of the accounts which show a lower than expected drop in profits. The minutes of the last ECB meeting will be published today.
Italy's public debt rose in 2016, but remains far from the July peak. It closed 2016 at 2.217,7 billion euros, 45 billion more than the 2.172,7 billion in 2015 (132,3% of GDP).
The spread worsened, which reached 190 basis points, with an increase of 4 basis points compared to the previous value. In the morning, the risk premium had fallen to 183bps. The Italian 2,26-year rate rises to 2,23% from XNUMX%.
SALE ONLY UNICREDIT. THUMP OF BENCH BPM
The recovery plan for Italian banks is progressing. With 340 votes in favor and 126 against, the Chamber voted to trust the government in the decree governing the precautionary recapitalization of Banca MPS. The tato is about to take over, with an investment of 5 billion, control of Veneto Banca and Popolare di Vicenza. In this context, the banks experienced a two-speed session in Piazza Affari: the big names were positive, while the other bank stocks in the list were negative.
Unicredit (+1,02% to 12,92 euros) is slightly above parity with rights (+2,15% to 11,9 euros), whose negotiation will end tomorrow. Intesa also rose (+0,83%). The bank, said the chairman Gian Maria Gros Pietro, is not speeding up on the Generali dossier on which, he added, "we have not set ourselves any deadlines". Thus the hypothesis of a hostile takeover of Generali (-1,87%) disappears.
Not much relevant seems to have come out of yesterday's board of directors. The board limited itself to examining the possibility of restructuring the 3% stake held in Intesa.
The worst performance, however, was that of Banco Bpm, which closed at -3,35%. Bad performance for Bper, which recorded a drop of 2,55%. Among the insurance companies, Unipol is also slowing down (-2,78%).
FCA STILL TONIC. WITH GM, IT WOULD HAVE 31% OF THE US MARKET
Fiat Chrysler slows down but remains on positive ground (+0,09%) supported yesterday by the possible Opel-Peugeot merger. Banca Akros (buy with a target price of 12,7 euros) has redone its accounts on a possible merger between FCA and GM: the sum between the two companies could give life to a giant with a 31% market share in the US and by 36% in Brazil. ICBPI confirmed the buy because the stock "continues to trade at a significant discount compared to its competitors, at a multiple of 5,3 times the 2017 price/earnings compared to the 7,9 times applied to competitors".
