The surge in yields and the spread weighs on business square, which slips into the red due to sales on utilities and closes today at the bottom of the European lists with a loss of 1,16%, with the main Milanese index below 21 basis points at 20.961. In the rest of the Old Continent there was an air of respite during the day, but optimism did not last until the end: Amsterdam it is the only one with an increase of 0,36%, thanks to the strong presence of technology companies and the good performance of the Nasdaq. I'm in fractional decline Paris -0,27% Frankfurt -0,72% Madrid -0,8% London -0,55%.

Overseas the New York Stock Exchange, after a good start, tries to consolidate today's rebound after yesterday hitting the lows since 2020 with the Dow Jones and the S&P500. However, today's improvement could be temporary in a phase that remains strongly disturbed by the monetary tightening decided by the Fed to fight inflation. According to Ned Davis Research, the chances of a recession are now 98% and as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell argues, a situation of high inflation and low growth could become the new normal.

The change of course on interest rates, followed by the ECB, is joined by the energy shock caused by the war in Ukraine as an element of concern. And while the Russian-speaking regions are voting for the annexation of Moscow, alarming news is coming from the Baltic Sea "unprecedented" damage on three lines of Nord Stream 1 and 2, which could (according to Moscow) be due to sabotage. The picture increases the chances of a winter in Europe without Russian gas and the price of methane flies to Amsterdam, reaching a peak of 194,7 euros per megawatt hour during the day, with an increase of more than 10%. Oil also rose: Brent +2,93%, 86,53 dollars a barrel.

Another hot front, which has alarmed the markets these days, is that of GBP, which in recent sessions touched its all-time low against the dollar at 1,035 and after Liz Truss's tax cut plan, the bets of a pound at parity with the dollar rose. At the moment, however, the British currency is recovering and trading at around 1,076 against the greenback.

It appreciates itself slightly too the euro, which trades around 0,9622.

For Reuters the volatility of the currency market captured by the CVIX index is currently at its highest since 2009, immediately after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. US stock market volatility reflected in the Vix "fear index," closed yesterday above 30 for the first time in three months.

Yields on primary and secondary are up

Meanwhile, Italian paper appears to be suffering and, two days before the elections, yields on primary and secondary are rising.

in auctions In the morning, the Treasury placed short-term BTPs and indexed BTPs for a total of 3,75 billion euro. In particular, 2,5 billion Short Term BTPs were sold (maturity May 2024) with a yield of 3,27% (from 1,86%) and 1,25 billion BTPs indexed to inflation over 10 years (maturity May 2033) with a yield of 2,45% (from 1,37%).

The pressure is felt, however, also on government bonds of other countries. Germany today placed five-year bonds worth 2,514 billion euros and interest jumped to 2,08% from 0,71% in the previous auction. The coverage ratio fell to 2,2 from 1,8.

A similar trend can also be seen on the secondary, with i BTP but they pay the highest price. The spread between the Italian and German ten-year bonds closed at 250 basis points and rose by 5,12%. The rates rose to +4,74% and +2,24% respectively.

Confirmation comes from the ECB that inflation will be higher and less transitory than initially thought and that the cycle of interest rate hikes will continue, in an attempt to contain it, as Governing Council member Mario Centeno said.

For Italy, meanwhile, the favorable opinion of the European Commission has arrived for the disbursement of the second installment from 21 billion within the framework of the Recovery Plan (Pnrr). The Council will pronounce itself within four weeks after which, if the positive decision is confirmed as expected, the Commission will adopt the final decision and will arrange for the disbursement.

Piazza Affari: Saipem shines, but rates penalize utilities

In Piazza Affari, the sales mainly affected utilities, which are suffering from competition from government bonds, which now offer yields that are now competitive with the dividends of energy companies. The sitting black jersey goes to Terna -5,49%. Red is also on for ad Enel, -5,4%, to its lowest since the end of November at 4,302 euros per share, Ivy -5,3% Snam -3,92% A2a -4,08% Italgas -3,04%. 

Profit takings penalize some financial like Finecobank -3,43%, Among the banks the worst is Understanding, -2,33%, bad too Unicredit -2,1%, despite the promotion of Jp Morgan to 'overweight' from 'neutral', with a target price of 15 euros from 13,5 euros. Ps it dropped 1,8%. Yesterday the stock failed to gain price, while the grouping of ordinary shares became effective in view of the hyper-dilutive capital increase of 2,5 billion euro. From now on orders without a price limit will not be accepted.

It is among the best blue chips of the day Saipem, +3,82%, which was awarded two new contracts in the Ivory Coast for a total value of approximately one billion euro. Among the oil stocks it marks an important progress Tenaris + 3,02%. 

They are confirmed in money Amplifon +3,86% and Telecom + 3,41%.

nexi it appreciates by 2,695% after the announcement of the details of the strategic plan to 2025 which sees estimates better than expected. Banca Akros, in the daily, argues that "these data should reassure the market about the group's growth prospects and its ability to cut financial leverage in the short-long term". Confirmed the "buy" indication with a target price of 13,5 euros. The title returned to the April 2019 placement price.