“From Hungary to Japan, the threat to central bank independence is growing. The consequence will be the politicization of exchange rates”. Thus Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, reaffirms the validity of the model on which the authority of the Central Bank of Frankfurt and the ECB rests, modeled after him. "So far we have avoided competitive devaluations - he added - I hope that the world continues on this path". In short, the strength of the euro is beginning to frighten Berlin too.
Yesterday Wall Street was closed on the occasion of Martin Luther King day. US President Barack Obama was sworn in for a second term in the White House in a ceremony in front of the US Capitol. "America's prosperity must rest on the broad shoulders of the middle class," Obama said.
“We cannot confuse absolutism with questions of principle, or substitute politics for spectacle, or regard offenses as reflective debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect,” Obama said
At the end of the session, Piazza Affari reports an increase of 0,4%. On the government bond market, the 10-year BTP is stable with the yield at 4,21% and the spread unchanged at 262.London and Paris mark an increase of 0,4%, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange has risen by 0,5 .XNUMX%.
EUROPA
Markets were unaffected by Angela Merkel's German electoral defeat in yesterday's regional vote in Lower Saxony. Germany, meanwhile, announced that producer prices fell by 0,3% per month in December: the figure on an annual basis rises to 1,5%. In November, in fact, prices had fallen by 0,1% per month and had marked +1,4% on an annual basis.
Throughout 2012, the production prices of industrial products grew by 2,1%. In 2011 they had recorded +5,7%. Proof that the recession in Europe also affects Berlin and its industries: a large part of German exports, in fact, goes to the European Union. In this regard, however, after recording -0,5% for GDP in the last quarter of 2012, the Bundesbank announced a turnaround already in the first quarter of the new year.
ITALY
Milan the positive boost came from Fiat +3,9%. Last Friday, The Children's Investment (TCI) fund reduced its net short position on Lingotto to 0,91% of the capital from 1,45% the day before, a percentage already lower than the 1,83% at the end of December.
This is what emerges from the latest Consob update on net short positions. In recent sessions, the Fiat stock has been at the center of intense purchases attributable, according to traders, to cover-ups. Fiat Industrial was also very active +3,7%.
Banks are back on the rise today: Unicredit +1,4%, Banco Popolare +1,4%, Ubi +1,4%. Intesa Sanpaolo closed unchanged and MontePaschi fell by 0,4%. Yesterday morning, two French brokers, Exane and Société Générale, raised the target prices of almost all Italian banks bringing them closer to market prices.
The mission of the Monetary Fund to examine the state of health of the Italian financial sector, before starting the visits to the banks, stopped in Milan at the Palazzo di Giustizia. Washington officials were received by Chief Prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati. The meeting was attended by the deputy prosecutor Francesco Greco (head of the economic pool). Now the meetings with senior executives of Unicredit, Pop Milano, UBI Banca and so on have begun.
Washington experts, explains a source, “want to understand the situation of the country, to make a global analysis of its holdings. They won't just focus on bank bad debts. It is a country report and this obviously also includes the stability of banking risks”. "The idea is to get a clear picture of the economic situation in Italy", explains a second source who points out that the Fund has already been in Consob last week, however a new meeting is not excluded.
Among the falling stocks, Mediaset lost 0,6%, downgraded by Deutsche Bank which cut the rating to "hold" from "buy". Mondadori is also weak -0,7%. The utilities moved in no particular order: Enel dropped by 0,1%, Terna +0,3%, Snam gained 1,5%.
