Unemployment in the euro area in January rose to record levels since the start of Eurostat measurements: 11,9%. In Italy it is 11,7%. “A significant increase compared to a year ago”, writes Eurostat, when it was 10,8% in the euro area and 9,6% in Italy. Worse than our country only Spain: in January 2013 the unemployed are 26,2%. Against this backdrop, inflation fell to 1,8%.
Numbers affecting the European price lists. Piazza Affari yields 1,54%, still in the grip of post-election uncertainty with the 5 Star Movement which claims its independence and denies trust. The Btp-bund spread closes at 338 basis points.
The euro falls to its lows of 2013 against the dollar, at 1,2983, leaving 0,5% on the ground today. WTI oil drops to 90,32 dollars a barrel (-1,84%). For Fitch, the prospect of a prolonged period of political instability after the weekend elections increases the pressure on Italy's sovereign rating: the instability has the potential to jeopardize the continuity of the policies followed to date and further weigh on a already weakening economy.
The other European price lists are also bad, with the exception of London (+0,28%): Frankfurt -0,43%, Paris -0,62%. In addition to the European macro data, the specter of cuts in US public spending (the so-called sequester) is worrying. Automatic spending cuts "are not necessary", "responsibility" is needed, US President Barack Obama said today after European markets were closed, after meeting with Congress leaders at the White House, emphasizing that Washington is not making it easy life to the economy. The bill for the US president will be a loss of 750 jobs. After Obama's intervention, the indices are back below parity.
The US Stock Exchange had wiped out the losses after some good macro data: the ISM index of the manufacturing sector in the United States rose to 54,2 points from 53,1 in February. The figure is better than expectations, which were for 52,5 points. Consumer confidence measured by the University of Michigan rose to 77,6 in February from 73,8 in January. The data is better than the expectations of analysts who expected a more contained rise to 76,3 points and represents the highest level since November.
There are some disappointing data to complete the picture. Construction spending in the United States fell by 2,1% in January to a seasonally adjusted $883,28 billion and US workers' incomes fell by 3,6% in January (-2,5 % the expected decline in income).
In Piazza Affari, where the Tobin tax started today, it is the bankers who are dragging the price list down. The Italian electoral uncertainty keeps European credit institutions on the sidelines when it comes to repaying Ltro funds, which continue to be of limited amounts. The European Central Bank announced that on Wednesday, March 6, 12 banks will repay 4,18 billion euros of the first Ltro operation and 54 institutions will repay 8,32 billion of the second, for a total therefore of 12,5 billion euros.
At the bottom of the list Mediaset collapses, -8,01%, after the request for condemnation by the president Fedele Confalonieri for the story of the sale of television rights. Finmeccanica -4,67%, A2A -4,32%, Enel Green Power -4,16%. Fiat Industrial -4,13%. In light Parmalat, +3,05%, in the wake of speculation for a possible delisting by the parent company Lactalis. Luxottica +1,74% following the results. Diasorin +1,08%, Prysmian +0,66%, Ferragamo +0,33%.
