The duties of China on the one hand and the ambiguous words of Jerome Powell on the other, together with the increasingly ferocious attacks by Donald Trump on the president of the Fed, have today brought the rate of volatility on the markets to the stars. In the end the European lists close mixed and Wall Street, after a negative opening and a switch to green, gallops downwards. Oil collapses, gold goes into orbit, the dollar weakens.
For Piazza Affari the final balance is in the dark: -1,65%, 20.474 points. It was a sort of "naked king" by the Fed president at the central bankers' symposium in Jackson Hole that sent the price down: "The dissolution of the Italian government”, he says, represents one of the risk factors for the global economy. For the Economy Minister Giovanni Tria on the other hand, Italy, despite a situation of stagnation, is showing resilience and any government born after the end of the Lega-Cinque Stelle executive will be able to move calmly.
In this context, bonds remain unchanged with the spread slightly increased to 197 basis points (+0,28%) and the Italian 1,31-year yield stable at 1,15%. After a positive session, Frankfurt -1,14% also loses its edge and stops in the red; Paris -0,78%; Madrid -0,38%; London -0,82%; Zurich -XNUMX%.
And to think that it was supposed to be a quiet day, at least until the key moment, at 16 pm Italian time, when Powell would have spoken at the meeting. To break the serene orbit of the financial planets instead, China takes care of it in the early afternoon, announcing duties of 75 billion dollars on imports of a range of US-made goods, from soybeans to cars and oil.
The news sent European markets into disarray for the first time and gets Wall Street off on the wrong foot. Then it's the turn of the president of the US central bank. All seems to be going well again, as Powell, while the US economy is strong, promises that the Fed will act "appropriately to support the expansion" in the face of significant risks related to the trade war and "further evidence of a global slowdown, especially in Germany and China. Geopolitical events dominated the news, including the possibility of a hard Brexit, rising tensions in Hong Kong and the dissolution of the Italian government.
So far "so good", so to speak, and the stock market is almost starting to toast. Then Trump's dissatisfaction breaks out, who vents all his anger: "As usual, the Fed has done nothing!". And again: “My only question is, who is our greatest enemy, Jay Powell or President Xi?”. It's like the opening of a dam that kicks off sales.
The dollar goes down and the euro recovers positions, moving in the 1,136 area. The single currency is also tonic against the pound, after yesterday's losses, with the exchange rate in the 0,908 zone. Brent-type oil falls by 2,1% and falls to 58,65 dollars a barrel; the WTI loses 3,25% and falls to 53,55 dollars a barrel. Gold takes advantage of this and rises to 1537,25 dollars an ounce, with a surge close to 2%.
Returning to Piazza Affari, the rising blue-chip patrol dwindles during this session with seasickness to just four stocks: Recordati +1,19%; Juventus +1,09%; Terna +0,11%; Bank Bpm -0,06%. The other banks go into the red, starting with Unicredit -3,1%.
The stock that suffers the most from the resumption of trade tensions with China is Stm, -4,47%. Sales hit Cnh -3,37%; Finecobank -2,98%; Diasorin -2,94%; Pirelli -2,91%; Post -2,73%; FCA -2,17%; Azimuth -2,3%; Prismian -2,19%. Atlantia -1,86% wonders about the future of concessions with a government still participated by the 5 stars.
Out of the main list Trevi, +2,26%, rises after the strengthening maneuver was launched by the board of directors of the Cesena engineering group specializing in major underground works to balance 700 million euro debts.
