Black Monday on the Stock Exchanges, but Piazza Affari reduces the decline and closes in the red by 2,76%, at 12.706,36 points. The Ftse Mib in the morning had come to lose more than 5%, doing worse than Madrid and renewing the lows since March 9, 2009, below 12.400 points. The slight increase was favored by Consob's decision to prohibit short sales of securities in the banking and insurance sector, both those assisted by securities lending and "naked" ones, already prohibited by the previous resolution of 11 November 2011.
The other European markets also saw a sharp decline: Frankfurt -3,18%, Paris -2,89%, London -2,09%, Madrid -1,10%, Athens -7,10%. The Dow Jones dropped 1,22% and the Nasdaq 2%. Quarterly earnings season is underway on Wall Street: McDonald's hamburgers disappoint, closing the second quarter with earnings per share of $1,32, down from $1,35 and below expectations by $1,38, weighed down from the exchange effect.
Even Asia, worried by the Chinese slowdown, is not escaping the reds this morning: the Central Bank of Beijing has predicted a slowdown in the economy of the People's Republic and said it was concerned about the state of health of Greece, which could come out of the Eurozone.
In Spain, the Bono-Bund differential closes at 630 points, after setting a new record of 642 points, with a yield of 7,40%. The Btp-Bund spread is also flying, which from 499 opening points closes at 516 and yields at 6,34%, after reaching 529 basis points. Two-year maturities were also under tension, while Germany placed for the first time in history 12-month debt with a negative yield and sustained demand. All this in a week of auctions for the Italian Treasury: between 25, 26 and 27 July, the Ministry of the Economy will issue Ctz, BoT and BTP for 16-18 billion, according to expert estimates.
For Prime Minister Mario Monti, the race for the spread depends on doubts about the EU shield. His eyes are now focused on Mario Draghi's ECB (who today met EU Commission President Barroso for lunch, apparently for "normal contacts"). The Eurotower has not bought European government bonds on the market for 19 weeks in the Smp program and it is hoped that Draghi will put his hand to some new unconventional blow that brings the ECB closer to the role of lender of last resort played by the Fed.
The euro is inexorably losing ground against the other currencies and falls for the first time in 11 years below 95 against the yen, while updating the new two-year low against the dollar at 1,2110 (-0,39%). WTI oil also fell to 88,87 dollars a barrel (-3,22%).
After Spiegel's indiscretions, the IMF strikes a blow and explains in a note that it is backing Greece to overcome the country's economic difficulties and that a mission of the Fund will begin discussions with Athens on July 24 on how to bring the economic program to the right way. During the day, the EU Commission had tried to reassure the markets by stating that the position of the Monetary Fund on Athens has not changed: a new tranche of aid is probable, but not before September. From Spain, the finance minister, overwhelmed by the new record in the Bono-Bund spread, forcefully rejected the hypothesis of an all-round rescue for the country, after the green light for bank financing. In the meantime, the Spanish Consob has also taken action against short selling, deciding to block them for three months on all listed securities to ensure that financial stability is maintained.
But the moves of gigantic Europe always seem to be too slow compared to the needs of the markets and everything suggests that we will find ourselves, as happened a year ago, dancing another summer on hot coals. With eyes focused on economic growth. Consumers react accordingly and the confidence estimate in the Eurozone drops drastically to -21,6 in July from -19,8 in June.
In Piazza Affari, the sales hit the banks, which collapsed between 5 and 7% in the morning. The sector then regained share, reducing losses overall, led by MPS which unexpectedly jumped by + 4,01% from the bottom of the Ftse Mib. But the rest of the sector still closed in the red: Unicredit, second best stock of the Ftse Mib, -0,16%, Intesa -1,76%, Banco Popolare -1,85%, Milan -1,21%. Heavy instead Ubi, -5,66%.
At the bottom of the Ftse Mib, the drop in A2A, -6,23%, is noted among the suspensions. All European utilities do badly but A2A updates historical lows due to fears about high debt. The new industrial plan, which will have to deal with the problem of debt reduction, is expected by the end of autumn. Also down were Pirelli -5,23%, Diasorin -5,45%.
Last days to negotiate the rights of the strongly dilutive Fonsai and Unipol double increase which will probably leave those who do not decide to follow it in full dry-mouthed. Here is how the shares performed today: Fonsai -7,03%, rights - 1,45%, savings +2,67%, rights -60,12%; Unipol -3,32%, rights -57,82%; privileged -4,15%, rights -47,89%.
De Longhi did well among mid caps, +4,05%, which closed the second quarter of 2012 with preliminary consolidated revenues up by 8,3% to 326,0 million euro, with a more sustained trend than previously expected.
