Not only Monte Paschi. The poisoned Apple accounts will contribute more to weigh on the mood of the financial markets this morning. After the announcement of the 2012 accounts, Apple stock has already left 10% on the ground, or more than 50 billion dollars in capitalization. Apple, which slipped to $461,31 (versus $702 in September) is now worth only $20 billion more than Exxon Mobil, in second place in the ranking by stock market value. The landslide is linked to sales figures, which the market judged to be lower than expected. Yet in the last quarter Apple sold 47,8 million iPhones (+78%) for a turnover of 54,4 billion (+18%). But profitability is declining, analysts accuse: competition from Samsung and the Android operating system is felt.
Mps, meanwhile, was wiped out after the 2009 derivatives scandal which could cost the institution over 200 million additional red on the 2012 budget. The Sienese bank, of which another 6% of the capital changed hands, closed at - 8,4%. In two days, 11,4% of the capital changed hands for an overall decrease of 13,5%. Meanwhile, the unusually harsh intervention by the Bank of Italy and the political effects of the case of the “red bank” promise days of fire for the sector.
In Asia the Tokyo Stock Exchange is back on track +1,3%, on the wave of the fall in the yen. Tensions over the resumption of North Korea's nuclear program are felt on the other price lists. Hong Kong -0,3% fell, Seoul -0,1% and Shanghai -0,1%. But reports from private banks anticipate a strong recovery in Beijing's manufacturing output. Apple's troubles weigh on Apple's Asian suppliers but push Samsung upwards.
The Dow Jones index (+0,49%) and the Nasdaq index (+0,4%) run, the S&P500 (+0,33%) moves less, favored by news on the federal budget. The Apple effect will be seen in today's session. Yesterday's sharpest decline was due to the Milan Stock Exchange, where the FtseMib index closed down by 0,7%, weighed down by the fall of MontePaschi, which affected the whole sector to a certain extent. Not only in Italy.
Across Europe, financials were weak: the Stoxx of banks fell by 0,8% and that of insurance companies by 0,9%. However, the London Stock Exchange closed up by 0,3%, Frankfurt rose by 0,1%, while Paris fell by 0,3%. It was a quiet day for government bonds with the yield of the BTP not moved at 4,18% and the spread stable at 264.
AMERICA
The good news concerns the compromise solution on the amount of the debt ceiling. The House of Representatives, with a Republican majority, approved 285 votes in favor 144 against, the law that temporarily raises, until mid-May, the current public debt ceiling (16.400 billion dollars), avoiding the risk of default for the State federal.
Alongside the debt ceiling game, what dominates on Wall Street is the examination of the company results for 2012: 75 of the 84 companies that have released their accounts have beaten profit expectations. It wasn't just Apple's disappointment. After the excellent data from Google and Ibm, yesterday up on Wall Street by 6,1% and 5,4% respectively, the news of the day concerns the boom of Netflix, the company that manages video rental via the Internet: after the accounts 2012 shares of the corporation, in which Carl Icahn is a shareholder, rose by 30%.
The negative note comes from the luxury. Coach -15%, the worst performance of the S&P500 index. The leather goods and luxury handbags company presented lower-than-expected quarterly data, confessing that the holiday shopping season was bad. However, net income was up 1,5% year-over-year.
EUROPE
The International Monetary Fund has revised its estimates for Europe, including Italy, downwards. In 2013, the Italian gross domestic product will record a decrease of 1% instead of 0,7% as expected last October, while in 2014 it should return to positive growth of 0,5%, unchanged projection compared to three months does. . For Germany, forecasts for 2013 are for growth of 0,6% (-0,3% compared to October) and 1,4% in 2014, while for France a +0,3% is expected % this year (-0,1%) and +0,9% next (-0,2%).
Spain, on the other hand, is expected to drop by 1,5% in 2013 (-0,1%) with a trend reversal in the coming year when the GDP will grow by 0,8%, a figure in any case revised downwards from the previous one + 1%. Banks also suffered in Paris: SocGen -3,8%, BnpParibas -2,3%.
Meanwhile, the US broker Bernstein has released a study on the sector in which he states that Telecom Italia is among the securities to own and France Telecom is among those not to own. But the markets, this time, do not listen to the experts: the former Italian incumbent fell by 2,4%, the French one by 2,9%.
ITALY
The MPS effect was felt on the entire credit sector. In Piazza Affari Unicredit lost 0,8%, despite the promotion of Morgan Stanley, Intesa -2,6%, Banco Popolare -4,1%, Ubi -4,1%, Pop.Milano -2,6%. Among the insurance companies, Generali fell by 1,1%, Unipol -2,4%. Premafin deflates -7,4% after speculation in recent days.
Standard & Poor's confirmed Generali's A rating, removing the negative credit watch. The creditworthiness of the Lion, which is now under a negative outlook, thus remains two notches above that of the Italian Republic thanks to "the high international diversification and its strong market positions in European countries with high ratings". "The negative outlook instead reflects 'the risk in completing the planned process of selling some assets and in achieving the expected profitability targets"
Among the industrial stocks, sharp decline of Finmeccanica -3,1%, penalized by the rumors about a probable postponement of the sale of Ansaldo Energia. StM lost 1,5%. Positive Pirelli +1,3%, Camfin deflated -7,2%. Fiat Industrial +1,2%. Little move Fiat. Among the mid and small caps, Geox +8,5% rose, Amplifon +1,7%.
