Happy ending this time for list bounce tests. The Ftse Mib closes up 4,7% despite the disappointment on GDP in the fourth quarter: +0,1% against expectations of +0,3%. GDP rose by 0,6% in 2015.
The Btp bund spread cools to 138 basis points and a yield of 1,65%. The other European Stock Exchanges closed positive even if with less sprint than Piazza Affari: Paris +2,3%, London +3,06%, Frankfurt +2,22%.
Oil soars: Wti rises by 9,61% to 28,73 dollars a barrel and Brent by 7,12% to 32,20 dollars. The energy minister of the United Arab Emirates has renewed the hypothesis of a production cut.
However, volatility remained high in the session. Gold, at its highest since last May, stops at 1236 dollars an ounce and drops by 0,8%. In the Eurozone, fourth quarter GDP data indicated an expansion of 0,3% over the previous quarter and +1,5% in 2015. German GDP was in line with expectations at +0,3% monthly and +1,7% annually.
Meanwhile Athens is back in recession. Greece's GDP decreased by 0,6% in the fourth quarter of the year compared to the previous quarter. On an annual basis, growth fell back by 1,9 percent.
A boost to stock prices also came in the afternoon from the better-than-expected data on US retail sales which rose by 0,2% in January and from the announcement of the buyback (repurchase of own bonds) for 5,4% billion by Deutsche Bank . The institute thus wanted to clear up the doubts about its debt repayment difficulties. The move facilitated the rebound of the entire banking sector supported also by the accounts of Commerzbank which closed 2015 with a profit of over 1 billion euros and with the return to the dividend of 20 cents per share and by the move to purchase JpMorgan shares by CEO Jamie Dimon for $26 million.
Unicredit flies to Italy, best title of the Ftse Mib, with a leap of 14,16% which allows the bank to eliminate the losses of the week. Followed by Bper +11,51%, Banco Popolare +11,48%, pending the merger with Bpm. This morning the CEO of Banco Pier Francesco Saviotti hoped that it could close for next weekend: "Let's hope - he replied to reporters - we are working, we are close, there are some things to fix but I am confident". Finally, Saviotti underlined that in the confrontation he had with the ECB on the integration project, "everything went well" and that there is no need for any capital increase for the operation. Unipolsai +11,03%, Ubi Banca +10,35%.
Only three stocks in negative territory on the Ftse Mib: Saipem -5,37%, Mps -5,20%, Buzzi Unicem -1,39%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose by 1,57% and the S&P500 by 1,61%. Speaking today at a meeting on US household debt in New York, New York Federal Reserve Governor William Dudley said that “US monetary policy, properly speaking, is still accommodative. Although this limits to some extent the degree of monetary response that can be given to any adverse events, the good news is that the US economy is now more resilient to shocks”. key sectors of the American economy appear to be in good shape” and “the financial system is clearly much more solid, with better capitalized banks and greater liquidity reserves than in the years preceding the financial crisis”. On the macroeconomic front, if inventories confirmed expectations (+0,1%), the consumer confidence index of the University of Michigan was disappointed at 90,7 points.
