The Japanese push gives the Stock Exchanges a positive end to the week. This morning European stock markets woke up with the surprise move by the Bank of Japan which brought interest rates, those on bank deposits, to -0,1%. The decision followed poor industrial production and inflation data for the Japanese economy. Tokyo thus closed up by 2,8%, followed by the Asian Stock Exchanges: Shanghai +3% and Shenzen +3,71%.
Even in Europe, the lists benefited from Kuroda's initiative which made it possible (for now) to leave behind the fears that had sunk the share prices the day before: the Ftse Mib closed with a gain of 2,57%, Paris +2,19%, London +2,56% and Frankfurt +1,64%.
The sentiment is strengthened by the trend of oil which seems to pick up again. After the flare due to rumors, denied about a possible cut in production, WTI oil remains on the rise at +0,81% to 33,51 dollars a barrel. Brent was more lively, marking +1,89% at 34,53 dollars a barrel.
In this scenario too the disappointment of US GDP arrived in the afternoon it served to give fuel to the stock exchanges which are now hoping for a brake on the Fed's increases.
The preliminary estimate of US growth in the fourth quarter stood at +0,7%, below expectations. Just as disappointing was the consumer confidence index (University of Michigan) which dropped in January to 92 points from 93,3 the previous month and below the estimates of analysts who had expected 93 points. The Chicago PMI jumped instead in January to 55,6 points from 42,89 in December, clearly returning above 50 points, a threshold that indicates economic expansion.
The Dow Jones at the close of Europe rose by 1,46% and the S&P500 by 1,16%. The euro-dollar exchange rate dropped 1,02% to 1,0828.
In Piazza Affari the rebound is driven by bank stocks: Banco Popolare +9,23%, Bpm +7,44% stands out among the best stocks of the Ftse Mib, also on the back foot due to the expectation of the risk with the contacts between the two banks which are entering an advanced stage. Unipo +5,56% and Bper +5,16% also did well. Intesa +4,14%, Unicredit +0,68%, Bmps +1,22% recovers from the declines of the morning. UBI goes against the trend, losing 0,92%. However, the best stock on the Ftse Mib are the rights to the Saipem increase, which jump by 23,4%.
There are only three blue chips in red, in addition to Ubi, sales hit Stm -1,31% and FCA -0,7%. Cnh rises by 3,33% after the accounts. Luxottica also performed well +4,26% after the results which recorded record sales for 2015. The aptron of the eyewear company, Leonardo Del Vecchio, one of the major shareholders of Generali (+2,99%) commented on the exit of the Greek CEO, denying the alleged conflicts with the shareholders. Ferragamo also did well, +3,56% on turnover, better than expected.
