Who knows if Piazza Affari will dedicate itself to rest on the seventh day. For now, the race continues. Helped by the favorable wind that has begun to blow from Wall Street, the Milan Stock Exchange regained the course followed in the last five days in the afternoon and closed the session higher for the sixth consecutive time: the Ftse Mib index, which rose yesterday of 0,52% has thus achieved a positive sequence of 8,3%.
Even on the public debt front, the situation remains positive: the spread is stable at 280. Reasonable optimism therefore prevails for the auction of six-month BOTs this morning. Beyond the attention linked to the possible formation of the Letta government, the growing expectation for a rate cut in the euro area plays in favor of Piazza Affari (and of the other markets). Goldman Sachs yesterday joined the list of brokers and economists betting on the cut. But the report links the downward forecast of European GDP estimates for 2013, a "cosmetic" intervention which, according to Goldman, will have very little influence on the real economy.
Meanwhile Angela Merkel, speaking in Dresden before the union of the country's savings banks, said: “The ECB is in a difficult situation. For Germany it should probably raise rates a bit but for other countries it needs to act to ensure that businesses have access to credit. We have to overcome this gap within the European Union”. Against this backdrop, the main European stock exchanges closed up with the exception of Madrid (-0,2%), weighed down by a horrible unemployment figure, which rose more than expected to 27,1%. London gained 0,9% also thanks to the higher-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure. Paris +0,1% and Frankfurt +0,8%.
FIAT SPEEDS UP TOWARDS CHRYSLER (AND WALL STREET)
Fiat forever, even with the suitcase in hand. In Milan, the Fiat share +3,8% was the star of the list for the third day in a row. The Wall Street Journal wrote that Sergio Marchionne is evaluating the possibility of listing the subject resulting from the merger with Chrysler on the New York stock exchange. Exor +2,2%. Fiat Industrial +2,7%. From Delaware, where the lawsuit between Fiat and the Veba fund of the United Auto Workers union (Uaw) is underway for the determination of the price of Chrysler, comes the news that Judge Donald Parsons said "I am more inclined to agree with him” indicating that he is in favor of the arguments expressed by Veba's lawyer, Robert Hirth. Fiat believes it will have to pay $139,7 million for the 3,3% stake following the deals, while the UAW trust says the stake is worth $342 million. The option subject to the dispute is equal to 3,3%, but the judge's opinion will be important in the context of the talks for the transfer of the entire stake to the Italian group.
ASIA AND US MARKETS GROW. GOLD SURGERY
Step forward of the Nikkei index +0,40% in Tokyo. In a few hours, at the end of the second board meeting in April, the Bank of Japan will announce its forecasts for GDP and the inflation rate. In the meantime, there is a small rebound of the yen. Meanwhile, the recovery of gold should be noted: 1475 dollars an ounce, or 12% more since April 16, the day of the big tumble. The rally was made possible by private and central bank purchases of emerging markets. US equities closed higher, supported by data showing a decline in US unemployment. The data on GDP for the first quarter is out today.
The Dow Jones gains 0,17%, the Nasdaq 0,62%, the Standard & Poor's 500 rises 0,40% to 1585 points, one step away from the all-time highs reached on April 11th. George Soros bought 7,9% of JC Penney, thus becoming the largest shareholder in the group. Amazon +2,2%: revenues grow (+22%) but operating profit drops - 37%. The data did not prevent earnings per share from growing to 0,18 cents (analysts' estimate of 0,09). Apple +1%, Cisco +1% and above all Microsoft +3,5% also rose, winning the lawsuit against the request for royalties for some Motorola patents (controlled by Google). The judge ruled that Microsoft will not have to pay royalties.
ENI STILL UNDER FIRE
Eni -0,8%. The energy major reported lower-than-consensus first-quarter results due to lower hydrocarbon production, lower selling prices and worsening gas market conditions. Saipem +1,1%. In the utility sector, Snam -0,6%, Enel +1,1%. Finmeccanica -3,5%: JP Morgan cut the rating to "underweight" from "neutral". Prysmian rises by 1%. Highlighted are a trio of stocks: Parmalat +3%, Lottomatica +2,5% and Autogrill +2,5%, which moved the date of the ordinary meeting forward by a month, probably to be able to convene the extraordinary meeting called to approve the green light for the demerger of the assets.
Buzzi +3% JP Morgan raised the target price to 11 euros from 8,4 euros, confirming the "neutral" opinion. Well-tuned insurance companies: Generali +1% and Fondiaria Sai +4,7% on the highs since July after it was acknowledged that the Consob findings will not have a substantial impact on the 2012 accounts. Italian banks moved little on the day of publication of the data losses for the quarter Santader, down 4%. Unicredit -0,5%. In the luxury sector Ferragamo +2,5% and reaches new historic highs. Among the small caps, Fiera Milano rises by 3,5% on new highs since 2011.
