Red October on the markets. The Ftse Mib lost 3,62% while the Ftse Italia small cap -9,25% and the Ftse micro cap -6,23% did even worse. The month of the stock markets was marked by the Ebola emergency, the quarterly season, the protests in Hong Kong and macroeconomic data which confirmed fears about the strength of the German economy. But what gave the coup de grace to the Stock Exchanges, especially in Piazza Affari, were the results of the ECB stress tests, published on 26 October.
Here in the last week of October, sales hit the banking sector. It was a vertical collapse for the two Italian institutions that ended up in the spotlight: Banca Carige and Mps. With lots of downward suspensions and a ban on short selling. The balance sheet for the whole month is merciless: Mps lost 41,13% finishing at the bottom not only of the Ftse Mib but of all the Piazza Affari price lists. Debacle also for Banca Carige which, with a drop of 36,5%, was the third worst stock ever.
For the other banks, the final count is mixed: sales invested Unicredit -6,39%, Bpm -5,45%, Ubi -4,92%, Intesa -2,52%, Bper -1,86%. While Mediobanca closed against the tide +3,91% and third best stock in the Ftse Mib. At the end of October, Piazzetta Cuccia released a better-than-expected quarterly report and recorded a 2% entry into the Chinese People's Bank of China shareholding during the month. Banco Popolare also performed well +0,43%.
Not only in Europe, but also in the USA and Japan, central banks continue to attract the attention of investors: the Fed has announced the end of quantitative easing while the Bank of Japan has given new vigor to its monetary stimulus.
In the USA, Corporate America has accelerated and the quarterly reports of some leading companies, from Caterpillar to Microsoft, have revealed the strength of the recovery of the US economy. Fiat is also a protagonist overseas which, in the new guise of FCA, took off at its debut on Wall Street with an initial jump of 6% to 9,25 dollars on the reference price.
Together with the Lingotto, the Exor holding also took off, rising by 13,51% in the month, the best stock in the Ftse Mib. Overall, however, the assessment of the month is difficult. On the Ftse Mib only 8 stocks managed to close up: in addition to Exor, the aforementioned Mediobanca and Banco Popolare, Cnh also closed the month with a positive +4,18%, A2A +2,48%, Terna +1,19%, Buzzi Unicem +0,99% and Campari +0,43%.
At the opposite end of the ranking, at the bottom of the index, in addition to Mps, we also find Saipem -25,18%, Wdf -24,93%, Yoox -17,83%, Autogrill -13,68%, Tenaris -13,22 %, Ferragamo -12,9%, Stm -12,67%, Mediaset -11,82%.
Oil companies have generally suffered from the collapse in oil prices with the WTI falling below $80 a barrel. The ax on black gold can also be explained by the downward revision of the estimates of the International Monetary Fund on the GDP of the euro area. The new forecast indicates growth of 0,8% in 2014 (from +1,1% in the previous estimate) and 1,3% in 2015 (from +1,5%). Eni also clearly retreats, losing 9,1%.
The other stocks posted single-digit falls. In particular, luxury moved in no particular order with Tod's down by 6,38%, Moncler by 2,25% while Luxottica defended itself well -0,39% despite the chaos that erupted over governance with the resignation of the co-CEO Cavatorta.
If the analysis is extended to all the shares of the Ftse Mib, except Exor, the best increases concern all SMEs: IMA +19,24%, Aeffe , Datalogic +11,26%, BbBiotech +10,15%.
