“It will be a year of strong recovery,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell repeated yesterday in the US Senate. But far from arousing enthusiasm, the forecast offers Wall Street the opportunity for a massive wave of tech sell-offs. The restart suggests moving capital towards a more traditional economy also because, a Bloomberg survey reveals, it seems that Americans prefer to spend the $1.400 provided by the government on travel and restaurants rather than on the stock exchange. GameStop, the protagonist of the crazy increase caused by traders in January, yesterday lost 34% after the quarterly.
Meanwhile, the queue for entering the Suez Canal of tankers blocked by the huge 400-metre-long tanker that has run aground on the banks of the busiest artery on the planet is lengthening. But, thanks to the stop imposed by Covid-19 in various countries, oil (after an initial leap of 6%) is not reacting, indeed pointing downwards, despite 13 million tons stuck in the Red Sea.
Two signs that demonstrate the caution of the markets waiting for a convincing strategy to win the battle against Covid-19. For this reason, the European Council that opens this afternoon (on video) in the presence of Joe Biden undoubtedly represents the event that the financial community looks forward to. The hope is that the summit will pave the way for the sharing of US companies' patents with European factories and remove the risk of health protectionism to the detriment of global supply chains.
NIKKEI TO THE RESCUE, CHINA INTERNET SUFFERS
After five days of decline, Asian stock markets rebound. The MSCI Asia Pacific index marks +0,3%. Tokyo's Nikkei gains 1,1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng is on par, while Shanghai and Shenzhen's CSI 300 are down 0,1%. Down 1% Mumbai. The infections have restarted in India: yesterday 54.000, the highest since October.
Technologists such as Tencent Holding and Alibaba (-4%) are also suffering in Hong Kong. The return of the threat of being looted from the United States stock market weighs heavily. Yesterday the SEC started the process of implementing a law on the financial statements of listed foreign companies which, in the intentions of the White House (Trump management), had the objective of reducing the number of listed Chinese companies.
RAIN OF SALES ON THE NASDAQ BIG
Wall Street futures are up slightly this morning. There was a tech sell-off just before the close last night, with the Nasdaq closing down 2%, on a two-week low. The Dow Jones is flat, the S&P 500 loses 0,55% due to the declines of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft.
Intel also slows down (-2,3%) after the initial enthusiasm for investments in Arizona on the new chip factory. The Taiwanese Tsmc also loses hits (-5,2%).
TODAY THE T-BOND AUCTION. THE TESLA IS PAID IN BITCOIN
The ten-year Treasury notes, on the eve of the very delicate auction of seven-year government bonds, showed little change, with a yield of 1,61%.
Bitcoin bounces: from next month it will be possible to pay for a Tesla in virtual currency.
WTI oil, up 6% yesterday on expectations of supply issues, is down 2% this morning to $60 a barrel.
Among the raw materials, the appreciation of aluminum continues (+1,7%), driven among other things by the agreement between Alcoa and Audi on the procurement of the car manufacturer's electrics.
PMI INDEXES: EUROPE IS IMPROVING, GERMANY FLYING
Merkel's sensational reversal on the closure of Germany at Easter (“it's all my fault”, the Chancellor apologized) did not create confusion on the markets, also because it coincided with the release of positive, indeed exceptional, economic data. Markit's PMI on euro zone manufacturing purchasing managers' expectations rose to 62,4 in March from 57,9 in February, well above the consensus expectation of 57,6. But the biggest surprise comes from the PMI index relating to the services sector, which improved to 48,8 from 45,7.
With these premises, Eurozone equities quickly recovered the initial deficit, with the Eurostoxx 50 now floating around parity. The feeling is that the damage to the economy from the second wave of contagion is much more modest than a year ago. The rebound in crude oil, partly supported by the story of the super tanker stranded at the entrance to the Suez Canal. But in the end, yesterday too the contagion emergency and the vaccine chaos weighed.
MILAN (+0,39%) IS THE TOP LIST
Piazza Affari appreciates by 0,39%, to 24.208, the best list on the Old Continent.
Frankfurt -0,35%. The German government today approved a further 60 billion budget maneuver that will increase public debt by a record figure of over 240 billion this year.
Paris is practically flat (-0,02%): Carrefour rises by 2% after the agreement with Advent International and Walmart for the purchase of the Big group, the third largest chain in Brazil.
Contrasted price lists outside the single currency area: London +0,23%; Zurich -0,33%.
THE SPREAD DROP TO 95, TODAY THE BTP SHORT DEBUT
The Italian secondary ended the session with a plus sign, in line with the core European bonds, among particularly cautious investors who returned to defensive assets intimidated by the trend of infections and the vaccination campaign. The 0,59-year rate traded at 0,60%, down from the 95% reached on the eve. The Italy-Germany spread closed at XNUMX points, stable.
Month-end auctions kick off today, with the placement of the new short-term Btp and the reopening of the Btpei for a total amount of 5,25 billion euros.
SUEZ BLOCKADE PUSHES OIL.
The rebound of crude oil was also felt in Piazza Affari, where oil stocks were among the best. The pink jersey went to Tenaris (+3,72%) followed by Saipem (+3,04%). Eni +2,67%, through its subsidiary Var energy, announced a new significant discovery in license PL 090/090I, located in the northern part of the North Sea.
Nexi is also advancing (+2,6%). Plus sign for the banking sector, driven by Mediobanca (+1,79%), Bper (+1,39%) and Banco Bpm (+1,32%).
CNH +2,1% INVESTS IN ROBOT FARMERS
Also among the best performances of the day was CNH Industrial, which closed the session with an increase of 2,11%, at 13,06 euros. The stock has gained about 5% in the past 30 days and is worth twice as much today as it was six months ago. Equita confirmed the buy recommendation and the target price at 15 euros after entering as strategic partner "in the capital of Augmenta, a French company that has developed a technology based on multispectral 4K cameras that scans the terrain in real time, calculates exactly what what is needed in terms of fertilizers or plant protection products and transmits the information to the machine in real time”.
Followed by Exor (+1,28%). Stellantis, on the other hand, is flat (+0,08%), Ferrari retreats (-1,71%) after the stretch in recent days.
PIRELLI: BRUNO WILL BE TRONCHETTI'S RIGHT ARM
In the end, Pirelli climbs into positive territory (+0,14%) after the appointment of Giorgio Luca Bruno as Deputy-CEO to support the execution of the new business plan. For now, the manager remains in charge of the industrial activities of Prometeon Tire Group.
LEONARDO IN RED AFTER THE RENOUNCEMENT OF THE IPO IN THE USA
The negative note of the day concerns Leonardo (-6,09%), which pays for the decision to postpone the initial public offering of Leonardo Drs shares in the USA after acknowledging that the price that emerged from contacts with investors was not satisfactory.
Healthcare is bad: Amplifon -3,98%, followed by Diasorin (-0,71%) and Recordati (-0,64%).
BIESSE AND SABAF, THE MID CAPS START AGAIN
Among the mid caps, Biesse (+4,74%) and Sabaf (+5,45%) stand out following the publication of the 2021-2023 business plan. Technogym follows (+1,59%) after the 2020 results. Unidata shines (+5,70%) on the AIM: Banca Akros has started hedging with a buy rating, target 35 euros.
