EUROPEAN EXCHANGES IN RED.
MILAN -0,7% AN ACCIDENT IN THE NORTH SEA HOLDS ENI BACK
An accident in the North Sea stops the rise of Piazza Affari. The failure of the platform above the Elgin – Franklin field referred to in l'Eni controls 22%, is at the origin of the drop in the title: -1,4% for the company that is worth 16% of the entire Milanese list. It is worse for Total -5%, which holds the majority of the field Total, the leading operator in the field, loses more than 5%. European oil company index loses 1,8%.
The OECD report: the credit crunch that hit Europe, says the report, threatens to aggravate the euro area crisis, which in 2012 could grow by only a meager 0,2 percent.
The Exchange of Milano so down 0,7% (16498 the Ftse/Mib index) in the company of London -0,5% and Paris -0,9%. Frankfurt unchanged. Wall Street travels just above parity. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell to 70,2 from 71,6 in March: economists had expected a drop to 70. The Fed index on the performance of theManufacturing in the Richmond area was up 7 points in March from 20 in February: the experts expected a drop to 18. In this context, there is room for the extension of the superstar title: Apple moves from record to record and its shares touch new intra-day highs at 615 dollars per share.
Among the banks, only Unicredit defends a timid rise +0,2%, dopo the positive accounts of the last quarter of 2011: net income stood at 114 million euros, against expectations of a break-even result, thanks to lower provisions than expected. The result for the whole of 2011 is negative by 9,2 billion, after write-downs of 10,3 billion. Other bank stocks are down: Banco Popolare -1% Intesa Sanpaolo -1,71% bpm -2,71% and Ps - 3%.
To be noted the lively appreciation for the Royal Bank of Scotland share +4% after rumors about talks for the sale of a stake in the bank (state-controlled) to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund.
Finmeccanica boom +10,88%, favored more by the printing hypothesis of a Hitachi Rail's interest in Ansaldo Breda e Ansaldo Sts +1,04%, than from the expectation on the year-end accounts. In particular it slips Stm -3,84%, after the cut of the recommendation from 'buy' (purchase) to 'hold' (to hold) by the shareholders of Societé Generale.
Industry stocks were generally positive, especially those in the automotive sector: Fiat advances of the Present in several = 0,35%, Pirelli +0,7%. In Europe, the Stoxx sector index gains 0,5%, with Volkswagen up 1,7%.
From the remuneration report published on the website of General -0,57% it appears that in 2011 the company's top management bonuses fell by 50%. In the same year, ex-president Cesare Geronzi was awarded a settlement of 16,65 million euros in addition to 880.000 euros in emoluments. The current president Gabriele Galateri received an emolument of 584.425 euros. "The President, as per the policy defined in 2011, has not been granted severance pay, nor have any agreements been concluded with him which provide for the payment of an indemnity in the event of early termination of office", underlines the relation.
