The many reasons for global uncertainty, from the situation in Hong Kong to Argentina, are holding back European stock markets, which inaugurate the week of August with an unsteady step, while Wall Street opens decidedly negative. Frankfurt -0,13%, Paris -0,33%; Madrid -0,92%; London -0,33%.
Piazza Affari loses 0,3% and falls to 20.268 points, aggravating the balance of losses, after the thud on Friday following the political crisis. Great unknowns weigh on the future of the country and making predictions seems like a gamble, because the positions of the parties change at the speed of the rotation of a Pulsar star. Despite this, the Italian paper closes a moderately positive session and the spread with the German 235-year bond drops to 2 basis points (-239%) from over 1,75 in the last session; the yield is XNUMX%.
The banks archive a particularly volatile session and the final is still bright red for Bper -2,12%; Understanding -2,07%; Unicredit -1,45%; Banco Bpm -1,43%. Mps +1,24% goes against the trend. On the other hand, asset management was bad with Finecobank -2,26% and Azimut 1,87%. In the firmament of the main price list Campari shines, +2,94% and Ferrari appreciates +1,28%; Post +1,18%; Italgas +1,14%.
The stocks that suffer the most are oil: Tenaris -3,24%; Saipem -2,44%. The first, in particular, pays off the company's exposure to the Argentine market. Today Buenos Aires is tested by the defeat of the liberal Maurizio Maduro in the primaries, against the centre-left Peronist Alberto Fernandez. The stock opened down 9%, while the Argentine peso is losing more than 20% (after a more than 30% plunge) against the dollar.
This front, together with that of Hong Kong, where protesters have occupied the airport, added to the always hot one of tariffs between the US and China, continue to feed the bear on most of the world's stock exchanges. Analyst forecasts don't help either. After Goldman Sachs said it did not expect an agreement between Washington and Beijing before the 2020 US presidential elections, lowering its fourth-quarter US GDP estimates, Bank of America today argues that the risks of a recession in the United States are increasing to the extent see a one in three chance of such a scenario becoming a reality in 2020.
Remaining in terms of currency: the euro appreciates against the dollar and moves in the 1,1216 area. The exchange rate of the single currency against the pound was flat, in the 0,9297 area. Oil is little moved, while gold continues to fly high: currently 1517,15 dollars an ounce.
