Milan closes in positive territory +0,34%, despite the sales that hit the banking sector. The BTP Bund spread started to rise again, returning to 207 points after the one-year BOT auction. The Treasury placed 8,5 billion annual BoTs with a slightly higher yield to 0,735%, compared to 0,707% in the previous auction. Demand stood at €12,345 billion, a ratio of 1,45.
Furthermore, the statistical bulletin of Bankitalia Money and banks shows that the share of Italian government bonds held by national banks has risen to new highs. In November, the amount of securities in the portfolio (including BOTs, BTPs, CCTs and CTZs) rose to 402,938 billion euros from 399,545 in October.
The other European stock exchanges are slightly better, however they are affected of the decline on Wall Street and the data on US unemployment. Paris +0,60%, Frankfurt +0,55%, London +0,73%. Wall Street, after a positive start, turned negative. Unemployment figures were released today in the US, which fell to 6,7% in December from 7% in December. A figure better than the expectations of analysts who expected the confirmation of the rate at 7% but which collides with the creation of jobs lower than the estimates. In December, 74 jobs were created without data, well below the 241.000 created in November and the 200.000 jobs expected by analysts. The private sector created 87.000 jobs in December, well below the 238.000 estimated two days ago by the ADP, while the public sector reduced its overall workforce by 13.000, including 2000 at the federal level. The figure pushed US 0,43-year yields lower. The euro-dollar exchange rate rose by 1,3666% to 1. Gold climbs 29% to $1.245 an ounce. WTI oil trades at 92,08 dollars a barrel (+0,46%). Also released was the data on wholesale inventories which grew in November by 0,5% to the seasonally adjusted share of 516,4 billion dollars. The figure is slightly higher than the expectations of analysts who expected an increase of 0,4%.
Beijing claims the title of the world's leading trading power. In China in 2013 the volume of trade exceeded 4.000 billion dollars for the first time in history. The total of Chinese exports and imports reached 4.160 trillion dollars with an increase of 7,6%. Chinese exports increased by 7,9%, to 2.210 billion dollars, and at the same time imports rose by 7,3%, to 1.950 billion, highlighting a good trend in domestic demand. The foreign trade surplus rose to $259,75 billion in 2013, the highest level since 2008, an increase of 12,8% from the previous year.
In Piazza Affari the sales hit the banks: Bpm -2,59%, Mps -1,9%, Tuner -1,59%. However, at the bottom of the Ftse Mib is Yoox -2,7%. Among the banking ones, Mediolanum is the exception, which jumps by 4,72% and reaches its highest level since 2007, the best title in the main basket after the record data on collection in December. Prysmian +2,21%, Snam +2,21% and Stm +2,01% also performed well. Luxury purchases return with Tod's rising by 2,03% benefiting from a report by Credit Suisse and Luxottica (+1,98%) which collects a buy from Citigroup thanks to the assumptions of an extraordinary dividend.
