Oil sinks and drags energy stocks with it, but telecommunications and banks support Piazza Affari, which closes up by 0,6%,18.715 points, doing better than the other European squares. Frankfurt +0,46%; Paris +0,18%; Madrid +0,12%; London -0,06%. Wall Street is little moved, in a semi-holiday session (it will close at 19 pm, Italian time), after Thanksgiving. The Dow Jones travels in red, while the Nasdaq floats around parity. Oil's involuntary “Black Friday” weighs on stocks, leaving behind a long trail of money for the seventh week in a row: Brent $59,07 a barrel, -5,64%; Wti 51,23 dollars a barrel, -4,88%. The market is perhaps pricing in the risk that Saudi Arabia could give in to pressure from the United States by reversing the production cuts at the OPEC meeting on 6 December.
On background trade tensions with China also remain, pending the meeting between the two presidents, next week, on the sidelines of the Argentine G20. In the meantime, Washington is allegedly putting pressure on allied countries, including Italy, to prevent wireless network operators and internet providers from using components manufactured by the Chinese company Huawei.
The euro weakens against other major currencies, due to new signs of an economic slowdown. IHS Markit flash estimate of Eurozone November composite PMI falls to 52,4 points, worst performance since late 2014. The final data on German GDP for the third quarter is also worrying, confirming the cyclical decline of 0,2% and annual growth of 1,1%. The exchange rate between the single currency and the dollar moves around 1,134.
In the afternoon, even slight tensions reappear on Italian bonds, on the eve of themaneuver meeting between Conte and Juncker, while EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici extends his hand and guarantees: "Our door remains open". In the morning, the differential between the ten-year Italian and German had fallen below the 300 point threshold, then reversed course and recovered 307.10 basis points, in line with yesterday's close (+0,2%). Volatility remains high and uncertainties remain about the outcome of the negotiations between Rome and Brussels, while Bank of Italy reports that the decline in government bonds "has led to a reduction in the value of households' financial wealth" of 2% (just under 85 billion ) in the six months to June.
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Moody's observes that in this phase the contribution of Italian savers will be very important, but seeing how the placement of the Btp Italia ended up, one wonders if they feel like it. The rating agency also underlines that the growing tensions between the government and the EU will probably keep financing costs high and increase the risks for the economy. The Bank of Italy is on the same wavelength, according to which the sharp rise in government bond yields is due to the uncertainty about the orientation of economic policies and can nullify the positive effects of the budget maneuver on the economy.
In Piazza Affari the banks, i.e. the ones most exposed to government bonds, after having supported the price list for almost the entire session, in the end cede the queen's crown to Telecom +3,12%. In any case Unicredit, +2,01%, is among the best stocks, while Banco Bpm (-0,57%) closed with a fractional decrease after the gains of the last few sessions. Asset management still shines with Banca Generali +2,26%. Moncler +2,28% and Buzzi +2,03% are appreciated. Sales on oil stocks continue, Saipem -2,53%; Eni -1,93%; Tenaris -1,69%. Unipol still down -0,83%. Fractional decrease Snam -0,49%. The most traded title by number of shares is Tiscali, which, out of the main basket, closed with a crash of 20,99% after the presentation of the accounts.
