THE CRISIS DOES NOT SCARE THE BTP PEOPLE: 17 BILLION RAISED. WALL STREET AND TOKYO RUN AGAIN
The Treasury played its joker well. a river of money poured into the Btp Italia. Requests for the new issue of government bonds reserved for retail investors exceeded 17 billion in two days, an all-time record, well above the forecasts of the Treasury which aimed to raise less than 10 billion with this operation.
In this way the fears for the April deadlines, the most demanding of 2013, disappear. Despite the political turbulence that verges on the grotesque, the Italian debt is holding up. That's not necessarily a good thing, suggests Hugo Dixon. A little alarm could reawaken slumbering consciences.
On the secondary market, there was an improvement in the 10-year Btp, with the yield down to 4,30% and the spread contracting to 303 (-5 basis points). After all, finance can reserve far greater surprises: who would have thought a year ago that Greece's ten-year bond would have gained 12% in 135 months, while gold would have lost 21%? The yellow metal traded this morning at 1370 dollars an ounce (-1,22%); WTI oil is at 100,21 dollars a barrel (+0,30%).
WALL STREET LIKES THE RECOVERY OF THE BRICK
The recovery of the real estate market in the USA has given strength to the Bull in Asia as well, nullifying the impact of the Boston bombs. In Asia, after three sessions in the red, stock markets are back in the positive: in Tokyo the Nikkei index gains one percentage point, while Taiwan, Singapore and Australia are also on the rise. Hong Kong broke even, Shanghai -0,3% down, weighed down by the decline in bank stocks: a sharp drop in loans is expected in April, against the slowdown in the rate of growth of the economy.
In New York, the American Stock Exchange absorbed the shock of Monday, the worst day of 2013 (-2,3%). On Wall Street, the S&P index rose by 1,43%, Dow Jones +1.08% and Nsdaq +1,50%. The bullish spark came from the excellent data from the construction sector +1,5 in the USA: in March there was a 7% increase in new construction sites for residential houses, against expectations of +1,4%. It is the best data of the last seven years.
Inflation is also decidedly under control, lower than forecasts: again in March, the consumer price index fell by 0,2% on the previous month, against expectations of zero growth. On an annual basis, inflation in the US fell to 1,5% in March from 2% in February. Lastly, strong acceleration in US industrial production, which rose by 0,4% in March against expectations of +0,2%. The February figure was revised to +1,1% from +0,7% in the first survey.
However, nothing to do for Piazza Affari and the other European stock exchanges. Despite the very positive data from the US economy, European stock markets closed their third consecutive session lower. In Milan, the FtseMib index fell by 0,6%, London and Paris also lost 0,6%, Frankfurt -0,3%.
TODAY UNIPOL ENTERS THE FTSE/MIB INDEX
The decline in oil stocks weighed on the negative performance of Piazza Affari. Eni fell by 1%, Saipem -2,5% Tenaris -0,6%. Banks moved up and down during the session and then closed mostly down: Understanding -0,8% Banco Popular -1,4% Pop.Milano -1,3%.
It closed higher MontePaschi +1,3% after the news that the Siena prosecutor's office ordered the seizure of assets for 1,8 billion euros against Nomura and the former MPS managers Giusepppe Mussari, Antonio Vigni and Gianluca Baldassarre. Among the insurance Generali lost 1,5%, while Unipol it ended just above parity. Today the stock makes its debut in the Ftse/Mib.
Day of declines for luxury stocks. Tod’s fell by 2,7%,Ferragamo -3,3% and Luxottica -1,7%. The sector was conditioned by disappointing data from the French giant lvmh which lost 3,8%. Among industrial stocks, it rose Pirelli + 2,4%. Fiat gained 2,3%, Finmeccanica + 2,3%. StM it fell 0,3% after UBS added the stock to its "least preferred list".
Among utilities, good upside by Atlantia +1,6%. The management illustrated the details of the merger plan with the financial community this morning in Londongemina +1,9%. Weak Enel which lost 0,6%, Enel Green Power +0,4%, net decrease of A2A -3,7%. The terrorism alarm in the USA has damaged Rest which fell by 2,4%. Autogrill is number one in airport catering in the United States.
