Covid-19 won the duel with the sheriff. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been forced to backtrack on reopening businesses after a sharp rise in infections. Bars, restaurants and cinemas also closed again in California and Florida. A quarter of the ten million cases of contagion in the world concerns the USA, which records 125 deaths out of half a million victims globally. Europe, except for a few outbreaks, is holding. But the risk of the second wave is concrete. The US health secretary, Alex Azar, said last night that the room for maneuver to stop the contagion is shrinking.
TOKYO LOSSES MORE THAN 2%, PROFITS INCREASE IN CHINA
The recovery of the epidemic slows down the stock markets, at the start of a short week for Wall Street, closed on the 3rd for the long weekend of Independence Day. Stock markets in Asia are down: Tokyo's Nikkei -2,2%, Sydney -2%, Seoul's Kospi -1,9%.
China's stock exchanges reopened in the red after two days of holiday closures: Hong Kong -1,6%, Shanghai Composite -0,7%. In May, we learn from the macroeconomic data released last night, the profits of Chinese industry returned to growth: +6% year on year to 582 billion yuan (82 billion dollars), from -4,3% in April .
From the data collected by Bloomberg it emerges that Beijing is more or less respecting the terms of the trade agreement signed in January with Washington, in the first five months of the year, the additional purchases of US goods on which the parties had agreed, reached about a fifth of the target, mainly due to the increase in soybean imports.
ADVERTISERS LEAVE FACEBOOK: TOO MUCH VIOLENCE
Wall Street futures are uncertain: they opened in the positive tonight and then turned over. Derivatives on the English Stock Exchange were also negative.
Donald Trump was forced to withdraw a video relaunched by his blog praising white supremacists.
Advertisers have taken note of the anti-racist attitude of public opinion: Facebook lost 8,5% on Friday due to the exodus of large advertising investors. The latest to announce a rethink or a temporary stop to advertising are Starbucks and Levi's Strauss. The large clientele does not like the approach to posts that incite violence and racism, free to circulate on the most visited social site in the world.
On Friday, US stock exchanges closed heavily down: S&P 500 -2,4% after the Fed stopped dividends and bank buybacks.
OIL WEAK, DEMAND FALLS
Brent-type oil is down 1,8%, at 40,3 dollars a barrel. The fear of a new decline in demand is pushing even the most undisciplined producers to adapt to the constraints contained in the latest agreement reached at Opec Plus level.
Cheepeake Energy, one of the first shale oil companies, has filed for bankruptcy.
MERKEL AT THE GUIDE OF EUROPE, BEAT OF MACRON
Euro-dollar up slightly to 1,124 (+0,2%).
Germany is more than ever the heart of Europe. On Wednesday the leadership of the European Union for the next six months passes to Berlin. Angela Merkel, in view of the mission, met with Emmanuel Macron, who emerged battered from Sunday's elections, which sanctioned the advance of the Greens (victorious in Lyon) and the resurrection of the socialists (confirmation of Annie Hidalgo in Paris, snatched Marseille to the right). Merkel's first objective is the accession of all EU countries to the Recovery Fund and the Mes. But the chancellor will also have to quickly remedy the loopholes in control that emerged in the Wirecard crack. To follow the data on inflation beyond the Rhine.
POWELL AND MNUCHIN AT CONGRESS
In the US, the spotlight is already on Congress for the hearings of the Fed president, Jerome Powell, and the Treasury minister, Steven Mnuchin: it will be an opportunity to understand whether or not the White House is aiming for a new injection of stimuli at the economy, possible if June jobs data disappoints. The minutes of the latest Fed meeting will be released on Wednesday. Speeches by two Fed governors, John Williams and Charles Evans, are also scheduled.
NIKOLA LAUNCHES THE HYDROGEN-POWERED CAMIOM, A ROLE FOR FCA
Nikola, the billionaire start-up that plans the landing in electric trucks and those powered by hydrogen, is now accepting reservations for the "Badger", or the "Tasso", the vehicle that could revolutionize the offer of heavy vehicles. The company, in which Cnh holds 7%, will shortly announce the choice of component supplier: Fiat Chrysler favored.
TOWARDS THE INTESA OPS. WE BUILD PLEASE
At the center of the Piazza Affari scene are the banks, around which some historic matches are played. Saturday Cattolica Assicurazioni shareholders approved the 500 million capital increase effectively paving the way for entry into the orbit of Generali. This morning the Board of Directors will convene the assembly for the transformation of the cooperative into a joint stock company. The first formal steps for the entry of Generali with the first tranche of the reserved capital increase of 300 million which will be launched in the autumn will also be on the table for discussion . At that point, the Lion will be the first shareholder with 24,4% with the possibility of participating pro rata in a subsequent recapitalization of 200 million.
There are two other operations on the agenda: the public exchange offer launched by Intesa Sanpaolo to take over Ubi Banca and the request to the ECB of Leonardo Del Vecchio to raise up to 20% of Mediobanca, the largest shareholder of the Generali group.
Waiting for signals from Frankfurt for Del Vecchio, the market is focusing on Intesa's Ops which will start on July 6th. The "market" offer of the bank led by Carlo Messina, valid until 28 July, provides for the exchange of 17 Intesa shares for 10 Ubi with "the aim of strengthening the position of the two groups' stakeholders in the European banking panorama". After the publication of the document, the UBI board has five days to examine the proposal and express its opinion. The Antitrust should express its opinion on the offer in the second half of July. Already on Friday Pietro Salini, president of We Build, took sides in favor of the operation.
LIGURIA IS ISOLATED, BUT EVERYTHING IS STILL ON THE HIGHWAYS
Yet another crazy weekend on the Ligurian motorways, paralyzed for most of the day by accidents and traffic blocks, should require at least common sense to speed up the search for a solution to the dispute between the government and Aspi, a subsidiary of Atlantia. The request of the M5S to gain control of Aspi without compensation does not seem feasible, but it highlights the political stalemate on the subject.
