Piazza Affari accelerates downwards in the second part of the session and closes down by 0,9%, falling to 23.622 points, with Stm in deep red (-6,28%) and mixed banks. The same weakness also affects the other European lists: London -1,14%; Frankfurt -1,07%; Paris -0,72%; Madrid -0,44%. Wall Street, after a record opening, is currently traveling mixed. The Dow Jones strengthens, with some quarterly ones like Caterpillar, while the Nasdaq loses ground.
The session is marked by the super euro against the dollar. The greenback hits its lowest point shortly after 16pm, when, (for one euro, it takes 1,24 dollars) while US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in Davos defines the current weakness of the US currency as "positive" due to US commercial activities and the opportunities it offers, underlining that don't be concerned about the exchange rate level in the short term.
At the moment the cross is 1,239, at the highest for about three years and on the eve of the ECB meeting and Mario Draghi's press conference. The marked appreciation of the euro has already prompted some central bank officials to express concern about inflation which could deviate from the path towards the Frankfurt target of just under 2%. Dusting gold, over 1353 dollars an ounce.
Oil, on the other hand, changes direction several times. In the late afternoon, Brent also exceeded the threshold of 70 dollars a barrel, the highest level in the last three years, to then drop below it again. The EIA data on weekly US inventories is still being digested, down, albeit less than expected. Caution on government bonds ahead of the ECB meeting. The yield of the 10-year BTP goes up to 1,91%, while the spread with the German ten-year bond is contracting again today, to 132.10 basis points (-0,45%).
On the main price list of Piazza Affari many financial stocks shine, following the opening of Daniele Nouy for a postponement of the application of the new rules for the disposal of non-performing loans. “Doing too little and too late – however warns the head of the ECB's Supervision – is not a viable option”. Good Bper +2,03%; Ubi +1,2%; UniCredit +0,11%. On the other hand, dense sales on Intesa -1,47%. Outside the Ftse Mib, Creval regains its share, +4,88%.
Purchases also reward insurance, with Generals +1%. In fashion Moncler asserts itself +0,52%, also thanks to the upward revision of the target price to 31 euros from 27,5 by Jefferies. Ynap, +0,21%, floats just below the threshold of 38 euros per share.
Sales hit Stmicroelectronics, penalized by the target price cut by JP Morgan (from 26 to 23 euros) and by the estimates below the expectations of the American giant Texas Instruments for the first quarter of the year. which puts the whole semiconductor sector under pressure at European level. The Italian-French microchip company will publish the accounting results tomorrow, as will FCA (-0,66%).
Campari down -2,1%; Cnh -2,13%; Leonardo -1,79%; Terna -1,93%. The performance is also weak for Telecom, -0,81%, which however denies the press rumors about the departure of the CEO, Amos Genish, recently at the helm of the group. Several sources speak of growing tensions between the manager and the main shareholder Vivendi.
