Hopes of a cure and an upcoming vaccine for the coronavirus today are fueling risk appetite and allowing large recoveries on the stock market. European stocks close at pre-epidemic levels, Wall Street returns to record levels and oil is rallying, despite an increase in US inventories, after the heavy losses suffered in recent weeks: Brent +3,8%, 56 dollars a barrel . Gold is also waking up: 1563,15 dollars an ounce.
In this climate, Frankfurt closes up 1,47%; Paris +0,85%; Madrid +1,6%; London +0,55%; Zurich +1,78%.
Piazza Affari participates in the banquet and breaks through the barrier of 24 points again, ending up with a gain of 1,64% to 24.236 basis points. The performance is positive for bonds: the spread between the Italian and German ten-year bonds drops to 136 basis points, with a yield for the BTP of 0,96%.
A trend that favors bankers, still in evidence, also in light of the good quarterly data and press analyzes on the basis of which a risk should restart at European level. Intesa appreciates again today by 4,17%, while analysts are quick to improve their assessments after the accounts released yesterday. Well Unicredit +2%, which will release its numbers tomorrow, while Bper +2,24% will do it tonight. Mediobanca +2,57%.
Queen of the Ftse Mib is Pirelli +5,66%. Oil stocks recover further: Saipem +4,01%. Among the best big caps also Stm +2,7%; Fiat +2,5%; Buzzi +2,21%.
The declines were modest and limited to a few blue chips: Juventus -0,61%; Ferragamo -0,58%; Atlantia -0,56%; Telecom -0,57%; Diasorin -0,26%; Leonardo -0,13%; Recorded -0,02%.
Maire Tecnimont snatches out of the main basket, +9%, in the wake of the announcement by ChemOne, a Singapore-based company, of an order to build a 3,4 billion dollar plant in Malaysia in which the engineering firm Italian is partner.
Wall Street has also started in fourth place and is traveling in progress thanks to better-than-expected economic data. The Dow Jones is over 29 points. However, Ford collapses, -10%, estimating a worse 2020 than previously estimated, while profit taking knocks out Tesla -14%.
The euro suffers, losing 0,34% against the dollar and trading at 1,1005. The greenback appreciates against safe-haven currencies such as the yen and the Swiss franc,
benefiting from the higher-than-expected increase in employment in the US private sector in January.
In the euro area, on the other hand, the European Commission took today a first step towards revising the budgetary rules that form the basis of the single currency, launching a political consultation that will help find common ground between deeply divided governments.
The president of the ECB, Christine Lagarde on the other hand is worried about the economic repercussions of the Chinese epidemic: "while the threat of the trade war between the United States and China seems to be receding - she says - the coronavirus adds a new level of uncertainty".
The latest count of the dead is unfortunately approaching 500, while global infections are around 24.560 and a thousand people recovered.
Although the WHO calls for caution, the Chinese press wrote that preliminary tests have shown that two drugs can effectively inhibit the cells of the virus in vitro, a fact that would open up the possibility of a cure. From Great Britain then come positive indications for the development of the vaccine, possibly effective for a subsequent epidemic.
