Piazza Affari closes queen in Europe, with an increase of 0,63% (to 25.441 points), thanks to purchases on banks. The services sector index in June contributes to instilling optimism in the Milanese stock market, which largely exceeded the forecasts of the experts, although the Delta variant of the new coronavirus is increasingly threatening and China recorded a slowdown in the services sector last month precisely because of an outbreak of Covid 19 in Guangdong.
Pandemic anxiety also weighed on Japanese equities, with the Nikkei falling 0,6% to a two-week low following a surge in infections in Tokyo, while the Olympics are approaching. Meanwhile, Health Minister Olivier Veran has warned that France could be headed towards a fourth wave of the pandemic due to the same variant and the news comes from Israel that the Pfizer vaccine, after two dares, protects against this mutation in only 64% of cases.
In this context and without the compass of Wall Street, closed for holidays, the other continental lists are more cautious: Frankfurt +0,07%; Amsterdam +0,06%; Paris +0,22%; Madrid +0,45%; London +0,58%. It remains among the raw materials oil in the spotlight pending the OPEC+ decisions. Brent, delivered in September 2021, is recovering and is currently trading at 76,82 dollars a barrel (+0,85%). Spot gold moved slightly up, with a price close to 1791 dollars an ounce (+0,2%%). The dollar moved little on the currency market, after the jobs data released on Friday which seem to ward off the risk of an imminent tapering by the Federal Reserve. The euro changes with the greenback in the 1,865 area.
Livening the atmosphere is the Eurozone composite PMI, in the final reading for June, which stands at 59,5 points from 57,1 in May. The figure is above the preliminary and consensus by 59,2 points. The final index relating to the services sector rises to 58,3 points compared to 55,2 the previous month, above the 58 of the preliminary and consensus of economists. In Italy, the services PMI reading rose to 56,7 points from 53,1 in May, above expectations of 55,8 points. This is the fastest pace of expansion since 2018. According to Minister Daniele Franco, we can be moderately positive. "Now that the economy is recovering from the depths of the recession we can look to the future with cautious optimism and lay the foundations for it - he said speaking at the B20-G20 dialogue - to accelerate sustainable and inclusive growth". The goal is “to reach our growth potential and make growth more resilient”.
In Piazza Affari it is Mediobanca, +2,42%, which today wears the pink jersey, thanks to the appeal triggered by the new strengthening in the capital of Leonardo Del Vecchio's Delfin, now close to its goal of climbing to 20% of the capital. Among the journalistic hypotheses, after the new blitz, there is one possible merger with Banca Mediolanum (flat), the subject of a recent report by Citi analysts and an integration with Unicredit (+1,74%), which Del Vecchio might like. Banco Bpm are up +1,62%; Entente +1,41%. Bene Poste +1,43%; Pirelli +1,48%; Stellantis +1,4%. The black jersey goes to Hera, -2,64%, penalized by the coupon stick of 11 cents per share. Amplifon forgiveness -0,91%; Moncler -0,94%; Diasorin -1,07%.
The liveliest movements are recorded outside the main mode. In particular, Reno De Medici rises by 3,86%, in the wake of the announcement that the absolute majority of the capital will pass into the hands of funds linked to Apollo Global Management. In fact, the private equity company has signed the definitive agreements for the purchase of a majority stake of approximately 67% of Rdm's capital from its two largest shareholders, i.e. Cascades and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, at a price of 1,45 euro per share (equal to a premium of 24% compared to the weighted average value for the volumes traded in the last 90 days), for a total outlay of over 365 million. The completion of the transaction, which is subject to the occurrence of certain conditions precedent, is expected by the third quarter of 2021. The Apollo funds will then promote a mandatory takeover bid on the remaining shares aimed at delisting the company. The very active Apollo funds have also made a foray into London, where they are preparing a bid for Morrisons supermarkets, which over the weekend accepted the £6,3 billion offer from the consortium led by Fortress Investment Group.
Among the stocks of football in Piazza Affari Rome shines again, +10,63%, constantly celebrating the arrival on the bench of Josè Mourinho who, according to Repubblica, would be trying to involve Real Madrid's left winger Marcelo in the Giallorossi project, while the press is chasing hypotheses about the new area in which the club aims to build the proprietary stadium, after abandoning the Tor di Valle stadium project.
Among the oil stocks Maire Tecnimont takes a leap, +3,92%, with the announcement of a $170 million EPCC contract with Indian Oil Corporation Limited for the construction of a new polypropylene plant and related product logistics section in India. The closure was slightly positive on the secondary, with the spread between the Italian and German ten-year bonds falling to 105 basis points and the BTP rate at +0,8%.
From the statistics released today by the European central bank it emerges that, in June, the net purchases of BTPs made by the ECB in the context of QE were negative by 3,69 billion euros against the +0,585 billion of the previous month. The total of BTPs purchased by the ECB since the beginning of the program thus stands at 421,64 billion. In the same month, the ECB bought German bunds for 4 billion (at 609,44 billion), Spanish bonos for 2,74 billion (at 301,76 billion) and French government bonds for 5,10 billion (at 496,90 billion).
Over the past week, the ECB has made net purchases under the Pepp programme for 15,73 billion (against 24,31 billion a week ago) to 1.185,67 billion. As regards the quantitative easing programme, net purchases of government bonds were negative by 2,58 billion (from +7,61 billion) to 2.419,82 billion, while purchases of corporate bonds stood at 0,453 billion (+0,174 billion) to 282,420 billion. Finally, during the period, purchases of covered bonds amounted to 43 million (from 163) to 292,175 billion, while those of ABS were positive for 76 million (from -363) to 28,213 billion.
