MARCHIONNE: WE DON'T LEAVE ITALY. RCS, SALT OF THE VALLEY
TOKYO-BEIJING TENSIONS, ASIA SLOWS DOWN. APPLE AT 700 DOLLARS
Toyota, Honda and Nissan have decided to suspend activity in the Chinese plants. Panasonic closed the distribution network in the People's Republic. The dealers of Japanese car manufacturers are preparing to do the same for fear of violent protests. The dispute between Tokyo and Beijing over the Sensaku (or Daoyu) islands has affected the economic relations between the second and third largest economies in the world (340 billion dollars in trade).
Political tensions froze the effects of the expansive measures decided by the Fed. In Tokyo, where the Central Bank meeting begins today, the stock market is down slightly -0.11%. The situation in Hong Kong is similar -0,07%. Shanghai lost 0,6%, sliding to a two-week low. Citigroup has revised downwards the growth estimates of Chinese GDP for 2013, now forecast at +7,6% from the previous +8%. Furthermore, the Xinhua agency wrote that the Beijing government could become more prudent in its monetary policy, for fear that the new American Quantitative Easing will accentuate the dangers of inflation in China.
Demonstrations also on Wall Street, but with a very different tenor from those in China. About a thousand outraged people gathered yesterday in Bowling Green, where the Bull of Wall Street is located, symbol of the temple of American finance, to celebrate the birthday of Occupy Wall Street. But the celebrations were ruined by the police: at least seventy indignant people ended up in handcuffs.
Meanwhile, in a stock exchange with reduced ranks for the anniversary of Rosh ahShana (the Jewish New Year) Apple + 1,2% celebrated a new record close to $700 (699,78 the last price): the company announced that it having received 24 million orders for the new iPhone2 in the first 5 hours, more than expected.
Indices down: S&P 500 -0.3% on a par with Dow Jones Industrial. NASDAQ -0,17%.
European stocks take a hit after strong gains on Friday, when markets reacted effervescently to the announcement of the Federal Reserve's new stimulus plan. In Milan, the FtseMib index fell by 0,9%, London fell by 0,3%, Paris -0,7%, Frankfurt -0,1%. Madrid -0,1%. The outcome of the meeting of European finance ministers in Cyprus also weakened the push: Ecofin closed without any definitive agreement on the conditions for accessing the anti-spread mechanisms.
THEeuro this morning it is trading at 1,3097 against the dollar, from 1,313 on Friday evening.
Stable the Petroleum at an altitude of 96,56. Gold loses positions, traded at 1757 dollars an ounce.
But it was above all the developments in the "Fiat case" that held the court in Italy: the company denied that it wanted to demobilize the Italian plants.
“Exactly what we told Consob a year ago is happening. I had to repeat it because a wholly improper cream was being whipped up around Fabbrica Italia, using the name of Fiat for purely political reasons: right and left”. the interview that the CEO of Fiat Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, gave to the director of the Republic Ezio Mauro. “Fiat – continues Marchionne – is accumulating losses of 700 million in Europe, and is coping with this loss with successes abroad, in the United States and emerging countries. Those are the only two things that matter. If we want to confront each other we have to start from here: there is no escaping”. But the number one of the Lingotto specifies: " I have not spoken of redundancies, I have not proposed closures of factories, I have never said that I want to leave".
The growth of the world car market will be held back in 2013 by weak demand from Europe and a slowdown in the sales trend in China. Moody's estimates it in the “Global auto industry outlook' report. For 2012, global volumes are expected to increase by 4,4%, but if we look at Western Europe, compared to last January's forecasts, the estimates drop by six points, from the +3% previously expected to the -3% of new predictions.
The trend in demand, adds Moody's, is being felt on the profit margins of “Renault, Peugeot and Fiat which will remain under pressure due to overcapacity and the reduction in margins.
Fiat fell by 2%, Fiat Industrial limited the loss to -0,2%. Pirelli fell by 1,2%.
Meanwhile, Diego Della Valle, protagonist of the controversy against Lingotto and, above all, against John Philip Elkann, confirmed that he has grown "a lot" in the capital of RCS -7,84%. Della Valle had left the control union of the publishing group in disagreement with the choices of Mediobanca and the president of Exor.
Fondiaria-Sai it ran up by 6% thanks to the news that the banks of the guarantee consortium have placed all the shares deriving from the unexercised rights with Italian and foreign investors. The subsidiary Milano Assicurazioni rose by 3,5%, Unipol +1,3%.
Today the curtain falls on the Ligresti's adventure in the Fonsai group. In fact, the Premafin shareholders' meeting will sanction the birth of the new board of directors who will guide the company towards the merger into the Fonsai-Unipol pole. The Ligresti, who presented a minority list, will probably have one seat on the board occupied by the accountant Luigi Reale.
Generali it fell by 0,9% Standard & Poor's maintained its negative credit watch on the company and its main subsidiaries.
According to the rating agency, in fact, the new industrial plan being prepared, which follows the appointment of the new CEO Mario Greco, and the announced restructuring of the 'core' market "are factors of uncertainty". “Furthermore – reads a note – Generali pays for exposure to the weak Italian economy and domestic investment markets”. Generali has an 'A' rating on long-term counterparty credit and financial strength.
Mediobanca securities since yesterday also covers the pan-European insurance sector. The first report on the sector signed by Eric Thiele, former head of the UBS insurance team, has been published. The report impacted the trading day of Glensidige, Norway's leading company.
Among the Milanese blue chips, the banks all closed lower with the exception of Mediobanca, up 2,7%. MontePaschi finished down by 2%, Ubi -0,9%, Intesa -0,6%, Unicredit -1,1%.
Positive Finmeccanica , up 0,6%, strong increase by Ansaldo +3%.
In decline Telecom Italy -2,1%, the stock was downgraded by Citigroup. In Europe, the telecommunications sector fell 0,9%, with FranceTelecom down 2,8% and Vodafone down 1,2% due to a $2,2 billion tax dispute with the Indian government.
Strong rise of Telecom Italia Media +13%, while Mediaset drops -2,2%.
Enel it limited the loss to -0,3%. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch raised its rating to buy from neutral.
Francesco Angelini, through Angelini Financial Holdings, more than doubled its stake in Tamburi Investment Partners to 5,061% from 2,004% previously.
