Four records in the last five sessions for the S&P and five out of six for the Nasdaq, which fell slightly only on the eve of Fred's president's speech and then started up again after Powell denied any intention to raise rates. The US markets do not stop. Indeed, today they are preparing to celebrate the best August, a traditionally negative month, of the last sixty years. The fall of Kabul? It's not news on Wall Street.
IN BEIJING THE SERVICES INDEX BELOW 50
Quite another music in the house of the great enemy, China. The PMI data released during the night confirm the most negative forecasts: manufacturing slows down, the data on services plummets below 50 (the boundary between growth and declines). The PMI index elaborated by the central statistics office in Beijing fell to 47,5 from 53,3: the consensus was 52. This is the sharpest drop since February 2020, the month of the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan. Industry is doing better, supported by the interventions of the central bank, but the figure nonetheless signals a cooling of the economy.
Asia Pacific stocks are mixed this morning. All those in the China area are down and almost everything else is up: volumes are modest also because the effects of yesterday's bank holiday in London are still being felt.
The Csi 300 of the Shanghai and Shenzen lists lost 1,3%, the Hang Seng of Hong Kong 1,7%.
VIDEO GAMES: UNDER 18s WILL BE ABLE TO PLAY 3 HOURS A WEEK
The video game companies suffer. Chinese regulators reduced the amount of time children under 18 can spend online gaming on Fridays, weekends and public holidays to one hour late yesterday afternoon. In all, there are three hours allowed per week. The National Press and Publication Administration also said it will increase the frequency and intensity of inspections to make sure the bans are being enforced. Tencent loses more than 3% and NetEase almost 4%.
Tokyo's Nikkei gained 1% in the final session, Seoul's Kospi 0,8%, Mumbai's BSE Sensex 0,2%.
PAYPAL OPENS A PLATFORM. ROBINHOOD COLLAPSES
In the aftermath of the Nasdaq (+0,9%) and S&P500 (+0,43%) record, Wall Street futures are up slightly. Down the Dow (-0,16%).
Robinhood's shares plunge (-7,6%) after the news that PayPal is about to launch a platform for trading shares.
OIL WEAK DESPITE THE HURRICANE
WTI oil was down 0,3% to $69 a barrel, from +0,7%. Texas crude is expected to end August negative at today's prices (-6,7%). For the moment, the most significant effects of the hurricane season are on gasoline: according to analysts, in the coming weeks the average pump price will rise to levels not seen in the United States for seven years.
The recovery of the euro continues, rising to 1,182 against the dollar, the highest in the last three weeks. 1,27-year Treasury Notes at XNUMX%, three basis points lower than yesterday.
EUROPE: CONFIDENCE IS BREAKING DOWN, INFLATION IS RISING IN GERMANY
The European stock markets are lagging behind, cooled by the decline in optimism that accompanied the march of the summer. Macro data, pending manufacturing output indices, signal that eurozone sentiment fell more-than-expected in August from a record peak in July, held back by a sharp decline in optimism in France and the Netherlands, while Selling price expectations have reached new all-time highs. Optimism worsened in all major sectors: from industry to services.
But inflation data is the real hot topic: in Spain, consumer prices rose by 3,3% in August. In Germany, the preliminary data on inflation for August stood at 0% compared to the previous month: expectations were for +0,1%, while the previous data was +0,9%. But the figure on an annual basis, on which the VAT increase weighs, is +3,4%. It is easy to foresee that, faced with these numbers, the hawks led by Jens Weidmann will return to the fray.
DE GALHAU (ECB): THE PEPP CAN'T BE TOUCHED
But yesterday Francois Villeroy de Galhau, member of the ECB board and governor of the French central bank, replied as follows: there is no rush to make a decision on the future of the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme, both because there is no it is the risk of a lasting increase in prices, and because the Pepp program has ample room for growth. The ECB's purchases totaled 1.325,07 billion out of a budget of 1.850 billion.
MILAN +0,07%. GDP GROWING BY 2,7%
Piazza Affari (+0,07%) closes the session with a slight increase, sufficient to make the list float above 26 thousand (26.024).
Good news comes from the OECD: in the second quarter, the Belpaese recorded the second highest growth in GDP in the more developed countries behind the United Kingdom (+4,8%). Italy rises by 2,7%.
The London Stock Exchange closed for holidays, the other markets recorded modest gains: Frankfurt +0,19%; Paris +0,08%; Amsterdam +0,27%. In red Madrid (-0,6%).
CALA UBISOFT, PORSCHE OPENS PLANT IN ASIA
In Paris, the gaming giant Ubisoft (-3%) loses momentum, hit by the restrictions decided by Beijing on video games.
Porsche has announced the construction of a factory in Malaysia. It is the first time in its 90-year history that the company has decided to operate away from Stuttgart.
SPREAD TO 105. MEDIUM-TERM AUCTION TODAY
Modest movements also for the bond market. The ten-year benchmark yield is 0,6217%, with the spread on the equivalent German security at 105,2 points.
Waiting for the month-end auctions, with Btp and 5 and 10 year bonds and the Ccteu. In detail, the 5-year loan, proposed for a maximum of 2,5 billion, was placed at 0,02% at the end of July; the 3,25-year bond, offered up to 0,66 billion, had an auction yield of 2%; while the Ccteu is proposed up to XNUMX billion euros.
CHIPS BLOCK STELLANTIS, FLAT CNH (WHICH DOES SHOPPING)
Stellantis (-0,85%) extended the production halt at several of the group's plants in Europe this week due to the shortage of microchips. In particular, production at the Sevel Atessa plant is suspended from 29 August to 4 September, while the shutdown of the Pomigliano plant, which was scheduled to restart, will be extended.
Ferrari (+0,57%) and Exor (+0,48%) are up.
Piatta Cnh Industrial after the purchase of Sampierana, an excavator company (turnover 101,8 million, 250 employees). The acquisition, writes Equita, reduces "the probability that the construction equipment business could be sold by focusing only on the post-spin-off agricultural business". The broker reiterates the buy rating and the target price of 18,5 euros on the Cnh stock.
JUVENTUS -1,67%: RONALDO FOLLOWERS ESCAPE
But Juventus (-1,67%) suffers the most in the Agnelli stable, both due to the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo (the company's website has already lost 400 followers) and due to the bad results in the championship.
INTERPUMP AND STM RUN, WEAK BANKS: UNICREDIT -1,65%
In general, the industrialists did well, led by Interpump (+2,27%) and by Stm (+1,57%) at the absolute tops in the wake of the records of Nvidia and the Dutch Asml.
Among oil products, Saipem (+1,58%), flat Eni, weak Tenaris (-1,09%) benefited from the rebound in crude oil. Saras makes a leap, +5,44%.
On the other hand, the reductions are led by Unicredit (-1,65%) and Bper (-1,17%); Bench Bpm -0,57%.
MEDIOBANCA PROMOTES MONCLER MORE DIGITAL
Focus on Moncler (+0,52%). Mediobanca Securities confirmed the outperform rating with a target price of 63,5 euro. In an interview with Affari & Finanza, the CEO Remo Ruffini spoke about the acceleration of existing projects on digitalisation, logistics and sustainability. But he said he was skeptical of the sector's ability to create a national champion, given the strong presence of family-owned companies. Unieuro stands out (+4,52%). Gel (+22,86%), a company operating in the water treatment sector, rose on the Aim.
