“It is time for the English people to speak up. It is time for our country's politics to confront Europe”. With these words this morning David Cameron will launch his challenge: the referendum on London's membership or exit from the EU. This will be one of the key questions that will take center stage at the meeting in Davos which opens this morning, with Mario Monti in attendance. Angela Merkel will speak at the meeting tomorrow.
The slowdown of the Tokyo Stock Exchange -1,5% and the parallel recovery of the yen continue. The one-year postponement of the quantitative easing measures already announced by the government weighs on the market. Hong Kong also fell -0,43%. Subdued market reactions to the "draw" of the Israeli elections, linked to the sharp decline in Bibi Netaniahu's coalition government. Oil is slightly down (112,28 dollars the Brent -0,12%), stable gold at 1692 dollars an ounce.
The best quarterly results of Apple and IBM have driven Wall Street upwards: the Dow Jones closes with a gain of 0,46, the S&P500 index marks +0,44% and the Nasdaq +0,27%. Weak European stock exchanges, above all due to the decline of the main German banks; Frankfurt – 0,68%, Paris -0,59%, Zurich -0,6% . London +0,03%.
Piazza Affari rises +0,48% despite the new storm on Monte Paschi – 5,68% due to the derivatives case which led to the resignation of Giuseppe Mussari from the top management of the ABI in the evening. The BTP was stable, with a yield of 4,18% and a spread of 261 (unchanged).
AMERICA
The good performance of advertising and online sales prompted Google's earnings +4,8% beyond forecasts: $10,65 per title (against an expectation of $10,50). In the fourth quarter, earnings grew by 36%. Ibm is also showing strong growth after the Stock Exchange +4% thanks to the good forecasts for the coming months.
The accounts of Du Pont, Travelers and most of the corporations (17 in all) that announced the accounts yesterday were also positive. Below expectations, albeit slightly, the quarterly report of Johnson & Johnson -0,7%. On the other hand, the macro data disappoint. Existing home sales were 4,94 million units in December, down from 4,99 million in November and below analyst expectations of 5,10 million. The Richmond Fed Index settled in January at -12 from +5 the previous month, economists were expecting +5.
Tick Microsoft behind Dell operation. The Redmond company will invest between 1 and 3 billion dollars in the form of mezzanine financing in the buyout of Dell by private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.
EUROPA
Achtung! News hit the German market that Bafin, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Authority would have asked banks to provide a simulation of their accounts in the event of a clear separation between retail activities and investment banking activities. A worrying prospect for profits, especially for Deutsche Bank -1,9% and for Commerzbank -2,5%.
The unexpected leap in the Zew index, which signals a much stronger prospect of growth for Germany's economy than the latest forecasts, was not enough to drive up the stock markets. The outflow from core countries to the periphery continues. Greece's 860-year spread fell to 2011 bps, a new low since April 2. Switzerland's 0,10-year bond is the only one still with a negative yield, but today the rate is -2012%, the highest yield since April 0,60. It was -XNUMX% in August.
ITALY
Final with a bang after one of the most difficult days for Monte Paschi. In the evening, the former number one of the institute, Giuseppe Mussari, gave his "irrevocable resignation" and "with immediate effect" from the presidency of the ABI. It is the effect of the revelations of Fatto Quotidiano on the Alexandria contract, a derivative transaction with Nomura signed by the bank's former top management.
According to reconstructions and indiscretions, at the time of Mussari's management, Monte signed three contracts in derivatives with investment banks (Deutsche Bank, Jp Morgan and Nomura) to move forward into the future loss-making financial items that could have a negative impact on the income statement. To plug the leak, the new management led by Alessandro Profumo and Fabrizio Viola has increased the Treasury's public loan request by 500 million, which will amount to 3,9 billion to be subscribed by the end of February.
And so, just three days after the Rocca Salimbeni assembly in which Beppe Grillo and Oscar Giannino will take the field, the institute is back in the bear's sights. The stock lost 5,68%. It is difficult to imagine a more dramatic setting for the mission of the Monetary Fund inspectors, who have been visiting the main Milanese banks since yesterday. The Milan Stock Exchange benefited from the return of investors on some important stocks such as Finmeccanica +4,6%, Prysmian +3,3% and Enel Green Power +3,9%.
Closures in no particular order for the other banks: Intesa -0,2%, Unicredit +0,4%, Banco Popolare +0,3%. Ubi-1%. Among the insurance companies, Generali gained 0,6%. New leap by Unipol +3,6%. Fondiaria +1,1%.
Mediobanca announced in the evening that, in relation to the commitments undertaken with the antitrust authority, it has completed the sale of the Fondiaria Sai and Unipol shares acquired "following participation in the guarantee consortia of the related capital increases". Fiat closed unchanged, Pirelli rose by 0,6%, FiatIndustrial +1,8%. Enel Green Power's +3,9% rise was triggered by the new SocGen "buy" recommendation. Camfin's march continues +8% on speculative hypotheses of a possible takeover bid.
