Markets awaiting the Fed. The European stock exchanges closed in negative territory in line with the sentiment of Wall Street where the indices are down. However, the most pronounced losses concern Piazza Affari which ends the session in the red by 1,14% while Paris -0,75%, London -0,56% and Frankfurt -0,56%.
The Fed meeting, as usual, begins today and will conclude tomorrow evening. The monetary policy meeting will also be followed by the Central Bank's statement on the state of health of the US economy. On the macroeconomic front, today the data on retail sales was released which showed a drop of 0,1% in February, less than expected (-0,2%) and that on inventories which increased by 0,1 in January 0,2% from the previous month, better than analysts' expectations. Producer prices also published, down 0,1% in February compared to January, in line with analysts' expectations. The index excluding energy and food prices (core) remained flat, while analysts had expected a XNUMX% increase. On a year-on-year basis, producer prices remained stable, while core ones rose by 1,2%. Finally, the New York Fed's Enmpire State manufacturing index which surprisingly moved into positive territory in March (to +0,6).
On the price lists also weighs the Petroleum: WTI dropped 2,66% to 36,19 dollars a barrel and Brent 2,3% to 38,62 dollars a barrel. The Dow Jones fell by 0,22% and the S&P500 by 0,51%. The exchange euro Dollar is little moved at 1,1096. Gold was also substantially unchanged, dropping 0,33% to 1231,24 dollars an ounce. The BTP-Bund spread it climbed back towards 106 basis points and a yield of 1,38%. The Treasury announced that the next issue of the BTP Italia, the government bond indexed to the national inflation rate and designed for individual savers, will take place from Monday 4 to Thursday 7 April 2016.
Toast in Piazza Affari Campari +2,10% after the announcement of the forthcoming friendly takeover bid on Grand Marnier for 684 million euros. Telecom Italia was also highlighted on the Ftse Mib which, after a volatile day, closed with an increase of 1,36%, periodically on the shields in the wake of the Orange hypothesis and awaiting decisions for the valorisation of the subsidiary Inwit. Italcementi +0,79%, Snam +0,49%. The sales, on the other hand, hit banks and luxury goods.
At the bottom of the basket of blue chips falls Tod’s -7,22%, affected by the data on 2015 and after JP Morgan reduced the target price to 70 euros from 74 euros, maintaining the judgment neutral. Second worst Bmps stock -5,98% after yesterday's leap linked to rumors about pressure from Matteo Renzi to marry the Tuscan bank. Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Treasury, thanks to the payment of the dividend in new shares, could rise from 4 to 7% in Mps. Also down are Bpm -4,62%, Ferragamo -4,34% and Buzzi Unicem -3,56%.
