RECESSION SCARES ASIA AND WALL STREET. TODAY THE TREASURE IS HOPE FOR A FULL OF BOTS
The stock market rally, after the sharp rises of recent months, is over. The judgment of Blak Rock, the most important manager of the American stock market, froze the mood of Wall Street and increased the pessimism of the Asian stock exchanges. And so, after the euphoria aroused by the unexpected improvement in the Conference Board index on confidence in the US, which shot up in September to 70,3 from 61,3 in August, the Bear has taken control of operations.
The losses on Asian stock exchanges were heavy this morning: Tokyo lost 1,90%, Hong Kong 0,9%. Shanghai also retreated -0,6%, which is starting to record the worst quarter of the year. There is a growing feeling that the stimulus action of the US and Japanese central banks is not enough to support the slowing economy. The president of the Philadelphia Fed Charles Plosser also thinks so: "I don't think that the bond purchases can have a decisive effect - he said - if anything, I fear that the operation could undermine the credibility of the central banks".
Wall Street closes the session significantly lower: Dow Jones -0,75%. S&P -1,05%. Worst of all the Nasdaq -1,36%. Leading the decline is Caterpillar -4,3%, which has revised downwards its profit forecasts between now and 2015. But the decline is mainly linked to the adjustment of Apple: -2,5%, almost 4% in two days . Thus the towing effect of the iPhone 5 vanishes, a sales success announced but not in the dimensions "dreamed of" by analysts.
The freezing markets should not affect the month-end offer of Italian government bonds. The Ctz auction opened Treasury week well. Today the focus is on a still positive outcome for the six-monthly BoTs also because the stock traded around 1,30% last night. In the auction at the end of August, the yield on the six-monthly BoT stood at 1,585%.
The yield of the 10-year BTP, up during the first phase of the day, returned to 5,07%, on the levels of the previous evening, with the spread at 349. The effect was the latest forecasts by Standard & Poor's which revised downwards the estimates on the GDP of the euro area, and above all on Spain and Italy.
Mario Draghi's optimism compensated for the S&P effect, causing the European stock exchanges to react: in the mid-afternoon, the losses of the lists were canceled which then closed higher. The FtseMib index of Piazza Affari ended up 0,4% driven by the banks. The London Stock Exchange gained 0,4%, Paris +0,4%, Frankfurt +0,1%.
The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, has declared his confidence in the possibility of an agreement between governments on the European Commission's proposal on future banking supervision in the euro area. 'As regards the Commission's proposal, I am confident that governments wish to find an agreement in the appropriate framework,' Draghi told German industrialists in Berlin.
The number one of the Eurotower also said that there are reasons to be optimistic about the prospects of the euro area, provided that the reforms are carried out. But not only. The banker also added that the eurozone has made progress and investors are ready to reinvest at the first signs of stabilisation. Great end of the day for financials sector stocks.
In Milan Unicredit rose by 1,9%, Understanding + 2,6% Popular bank + 3,2% Pop.Milano +2,7%. Beautiful momentum of Ubi which gained 3,1%. Generali rose by 0,4%, Mediolanum +0,8%. The recession effect, on the other hand, hit the auto sector, which was also held back by the news arriving from Germany. Goldman Sachs has cut the earnings estimates of the three largest German companies: Volkswagen fell by 0,9%, bmw -1,7% Daimler -1,8%.
Still in Germany Continental , Europe's second largest tire maker, fell 4,2% after the Schaeffler family announced it had sold 10,4% for 1,6 billion euros. After the sale, Schaeffler remains the largest shareholder with 49,9%. In Milan Fiat finished down 2,3%, Pirelli -1,6% Fiat Industrial -0,9%.
“We have to rethink the business model to which we are accustomed – Sergio Marchionne told Fiat executives and middle managers – we are ready to do our part but not alone. We must realize – he added – that given the current conditions of car demand and the forecasts for the years to come, Italy and Europe will no longer be the only final markets for us. Their weight has become too small. We can and must think of the automotive sector in Italy with a different logic, orientate it in a different way and equip it to become an important production center for exports outside Europe”. Marchionne also underlined that “I have never stopped dealing with Fiat and I have no intention of doing so. I have no intention of abandoning you."
Among other industrialists Finmeccanica rose by 1,9%,Prysmian + 1,3% Tenaris gained 2,7%, Impregile it + 1,8%.
Closing down instead for StM -1,5% after the profit warning of the German competitor Infineon –6,2%. Note the bounce of sapphire +5,9%, promoted by Citigroup. Telecom Italy Media gained 5,5%, Rcs in reverse it lost 2,4%.
Increase the price of Lactalis Usa. Parmalat +0,03% will pay the transfer (intragroup) of the American subsidiary of the new controlling shareholder 957 million dollars (equal to 738 million euros) and not, as already announced, 904 million. A change, explained the chairman Franco Tatò in the council, motivated by the net financial position equal to 53,2 million dollars at 30 June 2012 identified "as an element of integration of the provisional price of 904 million".
The independent directors of Parmalat, Umberto Mosetti and Antonio Mastrangelo, voted against, thus reaffirming their opposition to the whole operation which brought a large part of Parmalat's liquidity into the coffers of the Besnier family, owner of Lactalis. And that has seen the two directors already heard by Consob which is investigating the intercompany operation.
