The rally on Wall Street has stopped, at least for now. As was natural after five days at a gallop (but the Dow Jones, albeit slightly, marked the sixth consecutive rise). The dollar is also correcting, after eleven consecutive days up thanks also to the push of the now predictable rate hike. Donald Trump himself contributes to curbing the race, who transformed the presentation of the new Minister of Labor, Alexander Acosta, into a violent outburst against the media: self-control does not figure among the president's virtues.
The political front is also heating up in Europe. Less than two months after the vote in France, managers have targeted transalpine government bonds, with immediate repercussions on BTPs. The publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the ECB, from which it emerged that for the Directorate of the Central Bank there are possible "temporary deviations" in the purchases of securities, hasn't shaken the day. The confirmation of greater flexibility in interventions has given wings to OATs and BTPs.
The ECB, the market reasoned, is setting up the dam to face the tunnel of the French elections. Hence a strong increase in trade: just under 20 billion euros, which brought the daily average in February to over 16 billion (double that of 2016). There are those who sell to protect themselves from the Le Pen syndrome, but there are also those who are preparing to ride the next turbulence. "There is a buying opportunity for us," said Eric Brard, head of fixed income at Amundi, the asset management firm that bought Pioneer.
SAMSUNG'S NUMBER ONE ARRESTED. TOKYO -0,7%
Gray end of the week on the stock markets. Meteo Borsa does not rule out bright spots on debt securities. Asian stock markets slow down at the end of the week. Tokyo loses 0,7%, eliminating the gains of the last few sessions, while Toshiba's ordeal continues (-12,5%). Hong Kong is also in negative ground, returning from a new all-time high. Chinese stock markets are weak even if the authorities have eased the squeeze on futures. Seoul retreats after the new arrest of Samsung's number one, Lee Jae Yong, accused of corruption for the benefit of the president. Positive Mumbai (+0,6%).
Good news is coming from the Eastern economies: inflation is picking up in China; Taiwan has raised its growth estimates for 2017; Singapore (GDP +2,9% in 2016) and Indonesia (exports at their highest levels for three and a half years) also accelerated.
ONLY THE DOW JONES UP. THUD OF TRIPADVISOR
Wall Street is marking time after the long rain of records and in view of the long weekend. However, the Dow Jones index (+0,04%) closed up for the sixth time in a row. Modest losses for the S&P 500 (-0,09%) and the Nasdaq (-0,08%).
The Treasury Bill yield fell to 2,45% from 2,49% at yesterday's close. Deutsche Bank reports that only a minority of economists foresee an increase in the cost of money as early as March. During last night's press conference, President Donald Trump signaled that health care reform is ahead of the tax cut agenda on the White House agenda.
The best blue chip was Cisco: +2,34% after presentation of the accounts. On the other hand, the results of TripAdvisor are disappointing, down by 7%. Oil prices recovered this morning, in line with the weakening of the dollar in Asian markets.
GADSUB SOUTHSTREAM RELAUNCH TESTS
Brent is traded at 55,7 dollars a barrel, Wti at 53,47. Reuters wrote that OPEC is ready for further cuts if excess production remains on the market. The cartel members also plan to involve the non-OPEC countries that joined the pact signed at the end of last year. Chevron is down 1,7%.
The top stock of Piazza Affari was Saipem: + 4,10% to 0,4718 euros. The stock was driven by rumors from the Russian site Sputniknews on the relaunch of SouthStream, the gas pipeline that should bring Russian gas to Europe through the Balkans. Within that project, Saipem had won an important contract. Eni closed with a slight increase of 0,1%, Tenaris -0,9%.
BTP IN RUN AFTER ECB MINUTES. ONLY MILAN SALTS
"There is still not enough progress" in inflation to indicate a "sustainable and durable" trend. Thus the minutes of the European Central Bank have reassured the markets on the continuation of the purchases of Quantitative easing. European stock futures anticipate a flat start.
Milan, after two days of decline, marks a timid rise. The Ftse Mib index closed the session with a +0,16% at 19.087 points after reaching a maximum for the day of 19.156 points and a minimum of 18.939 points. Pause for reflection for the other European stock exchanges after three consecutive days of increases. The Paris Stock Exchange fell by 0,5%, Frankfurt -0,3%, Madrid -0,5%. The Stoxx 600 finished 0,43% down.
The publication of the reports of the last ECB meeting moved the debt securities market. After a positive but cautious morning, the BTPs consolidate their increases, concentrated on the ten-year stretch, thanks to the publication of the reports of the last meeting of the ECB.
Immediately after the publication of the minutes, the Btp/Bund spread peaked downwards to 179 basis points, then partially returned. In the afternoon, the spread fell to 178 bps, the lowest level since the beginning of February, with a retreat of more than 10 points from the highs of the mid-session.
The rate on the ten-year BTP in turn dropped to a minimum of 2,14%, the lowest level since the end of January, more than 10 basis points below the peak of 2,26% at the end of the morning.
RISE GENERALI. ALLIANZ BUY BACK: THERE IS NOTHING FOR SALE
Bad day for the banking sector: the basket fell by 1,32%. Unicredit left 2,24% on the ground (-4,62% the rights to the capital increase): today the negotiation of the rights ends.
Intesa (+0,2%) is negotiating with fourteen international banks the syndication of the 5,2 billion euro loan linked to the sale of 19,5% of Rosneft to Glencore and Qia.
Under pressure Bper (-3,45%) and Ubi (-2,44%). Mediobanca -0,55%: yesterday the agreement meeting was held and did not deal with the Generali match (+0,34%). Positive UnipolSai (+0,2%) and Unipol (+0,7%).
In Frankfurt, Allianz proposed a buyback of up to 3 billion euros after the largest European insurance group did not find suitable deals to use the accumulated liquidity. The company said it will propose a dividend of 7,60 euros per share for 2016 after boosting net income by 23% in the fourth quarter. The 4,1% coupon increase over last year's dividend was higher than expected. At 10,8 billion euros, net income for the year beat forecasts.
The House approved definitively the decree for the precautionary recapitalization of banks in crisis, starting with Mps which needs 8,8 billion on the basis of the capital requirement calculated by the ECB and the forced conversion of subordinated bonds into shares ensures 4,3 billion, the so-called 'burden sharing'. flat the remaining 4,5 billion plus another 2 billion to compensate savers holding bonds.
There are "high possibilities" that the State will also have to intervene in support of Veneto Banca and Popolare di Vicenza for a similar precautionary recapitalization, said yesterday the CEO of Vicenza and chairman of the strategic committee of Veneto Banca, Fabrizio Viola. It will be a 5 billion operation.
THE FCA SHARE RISES. GREAT COUP OF FINCANTIERI
Positive news for the industry. Fiat Chrysler (-0,37%) received numerous positive assessments from analysts on European registrations for the month of January, The group continued to outperform the car market by recording a growth in registrations in Europe of 15,2% on year , to 83.780 units for a share expanding from 6,6% to 7%.
Great coup for Fincantieri (+6,45%) who received an order from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings for the construction of 4 new-concept cruise ships, with the option for a further 2 units.
Ima also did very well (+0,94%) for which, after the preliminary results of 2016, Kepler Cheuvreux raised the target price on the stock from 62 to 72 euros, confirming the buy recommendation while Banca Akros increased it to 65 from 60,8 euros (accumulated).
On the contrary Prysmian slows down (-2,19%): Equita Sim which cut the recommendation on the stock from buy to hold, with the target price going from 24,8 to 27 euros.
ADVANCE MONDODORI. MEDIASET-SKY NEGOTIATION ON PREMIUM
Telecom -0,44%. Arete analysts raise the stock recommendation from negative to positive, with the target price rising to 0,93 from 0,73 euros, underlining that the shares are clearly undervalued compared to those of their competitors.
Mediaset moved little (+0,05%). Il Sole 24-Ore, without citing sources, returned this morning to the hypothesis of an agreement between Sky and Mediaset for the sale of Premium pay-TV. Mondadori, on the other hand, advances (+1,16%). Fininvest further increased its stake to 53,3% from 50,399%.
