The approach of an agreement on Greece favors the European lists which close with a marked increase. Milan is pink jersey and closed the session with an increase of 1,85%, on the highs since last July. Frankfurt is also celebrating where the Dax reaches an all-time record, +0,6% to 10.961 points. Madrid also did well +1%, Paris +0,95% while London closed unchanged. Tensions also eased on Athens which closed up 1,06% after posting increases of more than 3% led by the banks. The Btp-bund spread closed down at 125 basis points. In the morning, Tokyo updated its highs since 2007, closing up by 1,18% in the wake of the weakness of the yen and the expectation of a solution between Greece and the EU. Hong Kong +0,19 percent.
Tomorrow Greece will present its loan extension request to the Eurogroup offices by the European authorities. "I am working together with the president of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, to reach an extension of the current program that will allow (Greece) to last until the summer", said today the president of the EU commission, Jean-Claude Juncker , in an interview with the German weekly Wirtschaftswoche. "Then - he added - we should be in a position to find an agreement with the government in Athens on a new reform and growth program for Greece". In the meantime, the US has entered the close confrontation between the EU and Greece. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew called Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, warning of "immediate difficulties" without an agreement and asking for collaboration with the EU and the IMF. For Lew "it's time to get down to business". “It is time – he said – to find a constructive path in agreement with the IMF and the European finance ministers”.
“The US Treasury secretary actually told me that a failed deal would hurt Greece,” but “he added that it would hurt Europe as well. A warning to both sides,” Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis promptly replied in a tweet. However, the circle against austerity continues to close. The New York Times also noted that "being tolerant with Greece and giving it more room for maneuver is the only correct choice that Europe can make today" underlining that "there is no doubt that the austerity program has proved to be deeply wrong". At the same time, while the German press keeps talking about Grexit or an "endgame" for Greece, Bild takes sides in Athens' defense noting that losing Greece does not only mean burning billions of euros but also " our heart".
"What are the billions against Homer, Aristotle, Socrates?" asked the newspaper's editorialist. Wall Street, on the other hand, is on the decline, leaving room for profit taking after the records. The Dow Jones lost 0,17%, the S&P500 0,2%. The lists look at the minutes of the Fed which will be published in the evening and in the meantime archive some macroeconomic data below expectations. In detail, industrial production rose by 0,2% on a monthly basis in January. However, the increase is not sufficient to recover the 0,3% drop recorded in December. Also in January, new construction sites opened fell by 2% to 1,065 million, worse than the 1,7% expected by analysts. Also in January, building permits fell by 0,7% to 1,053 million units, while experts had expected an increase of 1,1%. Record fall then for producer prices which fell by 0,8%, more than the -0,4% expected. WTI oil dropped by 2,22% to 52,34 dollars a barrel while the euro-dollar exchange rate slipped by 0,6 % to 1,1342.
The banks are running in Piazza Affari in line with the trend of the sector in Europe. Best title is Mps +4,83%, Bpm +4,71%, Banco Popolare +3,78%, Bper +3,46%. Mediaset also performed well +3,63% which is still recovering after the maxi placement of Fininvest. Eni also stands out +3,37% after the accounts and the increase in the dividend and Saipem (+3,4%) is still celebrating the good outlook on 2015. At the bottom of the Ftse Mib, A2A is down -1%. Buzzi unicem -0,79%, Autogrill -0,6%, Pirelli -0,52% and Terna -0,4%.
