Milan confirms itself as still better than Europe with an increase of 0,72%, in a panorama of weakness: Madrid +0,15%, Frankfurt -0,16%, Paris -0,39% and London +0,05%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose by 0,11% and the Nasdaq dropped by 0,01% held back by the surprise increase in claims for unemployment benefits by 4 to 371. New rules for mortgages are coming in the US.
The early markets had cashed out the good data on Chinese exports in December which increased by 14,1% compared to the same period of the previous year, recovering from the meager 2,9% to which they fell in November.
Milan closes in decidedly positive territory boosted by the good result of the Bot auction which experienced a sharp drop in interest (0,864%) compared to the December issue (1,456%): it is the minimum level since January 2010. Wind in the sails also thanks to the drop in the spread to 261 points after having also dropped below the 260 area (259,8 with the yield at 4,14%). following the words of Mario Draghi who assured that the ECB does not intend to abandon the extraordinary measures implemented so far (the meeting on ECB rates was held today, the cost of money was kept unchanged at 0,75%, the economy is expected to gradually recover in 2013). After the ECB, the euro also strengthened, rising by 1,16% to 1,3226 against the dollar and the highest against the yen since the summer of 2011. Rates also down for Spain which, after today's auction, saw interest on ten-year debt to fall below 5% in the secondary market.
The banks continue to run in Piazza Affari: Intesa +2,92%, Mps +1,44%, Unicredit +1,23%. Asset management stocks also rose: Azimut +4,66%. But at the top of the Ftse Mib is Mediase with a 7,21% sprint, suspended upwards. Loans, however, are bad: Bank of Italy confirmed that in November the reduction in loans to resident non-financial companies was 3,4% on an annual basis, the largest percentage drop recorded since November 2009, Finmeccanica rose by +3,93% in the wake to the news from the Ansaldo Energia front. La Repubblica writes that the Koreans of Doosan would have an advantage over the Germans of Siemens with an offer that would guarantee a higher level of employment and, compared to the Italian consortium led by the Italian Strategic Fund (which presented an offer for 38% of the capital), it would be willing, like Siemens, to take over the entire Ansaldo Energia package except for a 10% which would remain in the hands of Finmeccanica to guarantee the Italian character of the company.
Pirelli +3%. At the bottom of the Ftse Mib Diasorin -6,34% after Intermonte downgraded its rating to neutral and Atlantia -3,54% after confirming the start of negotiations with Gemina (+1,10% on takeover bid expectations) and after the downgrade of Morgan Stanley which cut its recommendation on the group of the Benetton family to underweight from the previous overweight due to "the uncertainty of the political framework before the February elections and the lack of visibility on a return to growth in motorway traffic".
