On the one hand Mps -12,08%, which is struggling to find investors; on the other Mediaset +2,84%, which has unleashed the appetite of the French. These are the two faces of the Ftse Mib, which today closed fractionally lower, -0,16%, but still above 19.000 points. Winter day also at European level: Madrid -0,38%, with the European Court questioning the clauses of Spanish banks which require customers to pay minimum interest rates on mortgages even when lower amounts could be paid, potentially opening the road to record claims for reimbursements; Paris -0,33%; London -0,04%; Frankfurt +0,03%.
Wall Street opens in negative territory, after yesterday setting the 17th record since the advent of Donald Trump. The Dow Jones remains in the 20.000-point zone, a goal that seems within reach every day and that every day escapes by a whisker. In the global context, Piazza Affari is holding up well, with the bankers resisting also thanks to the lifeline launched by the government, which today obtained the green light from parliament for an additional 20 billion debt, if necessary to stabilize the system.
Yet this perspective is not enough to support Rocca Salimbeni. At this point these are the last hours for the 5 billion capital increase. Today at 14 the phase addressed to the retail public concluded and the results of the operation to convert the subordinated bonds into shares would amount to around 1 billion. Tomorrow at the same time the phase aimed at the institutional will close. According to Reuters, however, the capital increase does not meet requests from investors in the absence of an anchor investor and the hypothesis of an investment of up to 1 billion euros by the Qatari sovereign wealth fund would have faded. On the other hand, the terms of any plan B are not even known: "After the press rumors about the State's intervention in the capital increase - MPS writes in the second supplement to the offer document released today - there is no certainty that the State intervenes and, if it does, there is no certainty as to the modalities of such intervention and the amount".
On the upper curve of the price list we find Mediaset instead. The war continues and the agencies write that Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine will go to Consob, in Rome, on Friday, to be heard in the Commission, after the complaint by Finivest for abuse of privileged information following the takeover of the French group, which acquired over 25% of the Biscione's capital in a few days. On the same day, the Commission could also hear the other subjects involved, Mediaset and Fininvest precisely.
The challenge is heating up, but Silvio Berlusconi bestows serenity and detachment: "I've never dealt with these things - he says arriving in the Senate - I leave Mediaset to my children who are well capable of protecting its Italian character". On the bond front: the Btp/Bund spread remains below 160 basis points, against a ten-year rate that fluctuates, during the day, between a minimum of 1,80% and a maximum of 1,86%. The Italy/Spain spread is also partially reduced, by 5 basis points today, at 47, after returning well above 50 yesterday, again in view of the highs since the beginning of 2012 reached in November (in the 58 bp area).
Finally, according to DBRS, the decisions that the government will take in the next 24 hours, in particular regarding MPS and the national banking sector, will be fundamental for the country's A (low) sovereign rating. Today was also the last day of ECB Qe buying before the holiday suspension; purchases will restart on January 2nd.
