Sitting with two faces today in business square, which closed down by 0,62% to 27.700 basis points, with mixed banks, after the morning's gains which had brought the Ftse Mib back to 28 points, the highest since January last year.
Tempers were cooled by the uncertain start of Wall Street, which moves weakly in the first hours of US trading, contributing to a contrasted closure in Europe, where Milan is the worst, but also Amsterdam loses 0,38%, with Paris -0,28% and Frankfurt -0,11%. I'm making slow progress instead Madrid +0,2% and London + 0,11%.
In New York it is particularly bad Alphabet (Google), -3,5%, following news that Samsung is considering replacing Google with Microsoft's Bing (+0,63%) as the default search engine on its devices.
However, the climate is wait-and-see in a week full of important quarterly reports, after the first numbers of some major banks seen last week and which positively surprised analysts.
On the currency market dates back to dollar with the euro changing to red at area 1,091.
The thirst for success is momentarily quenched Petroleum and Brent and WTI futures are down fractionally, for prices respectively around 86 dollars a barrel and 82 dollars a barrel. Profit-taking also affects spot gold, at around 1985 dollars an ounce.
Piazza Affari, mixed banks
Some financial stocks changed sign on the main Milanese index, while the start-up sector had contributed to the continuation of the recent rally. Bpm bank, +3,01%, in any case he closed today's stage in the pink jersey, after press rumors dusted off the merger hypothesis with Unicredit (-1,77%), on the basis of the recent revaluation of this share, which would make the share swap convenient for the bank led by Andrea Orcel. According to the brokers, the marriage would have many pros, but also some cons, due to the presence of Crédit Agricole in the capital of Banco Bpm and the possible hostility of the government, which would probably prefer the creation of a third banking hub that includes Mps (colorless).
The big names are sliding down Unicredit and Intesa, -1,09%.
Managed savings also fell with Finecobank -4,25%, Generali Bank -1,6% and Post -1,51%.
Among the worst blue chips of the day there is Saipem, -4%, in an oil sector often highlighted in recent months. Set back luxury with Moncler -1,97% and the car with Ferrari -1,58%. The parent company of the Agnelli family, Exor, it lost 1,36% in Amsterdam after the release of first quarter numbers. The holding company's objectives include new acquisitions in the healthcare sector, considered interesting due to the continuous aging of the world population.
On the Ftse Mib the session is in favor of nexi +1,44%, in the wake of rumors about the price at which private equity funds would like to buy the British competitor Network International.
Bene Interpump +1,3% and Iveco +1,7% and utilities such as Hera + 1,07% Italgas + 1,01% Terna + 0,73%.
Also shop on Telecom, +0,59%, pending improved offers for the fixed network. According to press reports, the suitors are preparing to raise the bar by an amount between 1 and 2 billion euros.
Flat secondary
The secondary is flat: lo spread remains nailed to 181 basis points, with rates similar to last Friday's closing, +4,24% for the Italian 2,43-year bond and +XNUMX% for the German one.
In the meantime, Istat revised slightly downwards inflation in March in Italy (+7,6% on an annual basis from the preliminary +7,7%, with a monthly drop of 0,4%), thanks to the decrease in the price of electricity and gas on the protected market.
However, the shopping cart still hits the household budget hard and is 12,6% more expensive than a year ago.
In the meantime, we look at what will decide ECB in upcoming meetings and the economists consulted by Bloomberg expect three more hikes of 25 basis points during the meetings in May, June and July to reach a peak in the rate on deposits of 3,75%.
“The task is not finished yet – claims the president of the Bundesbank Joachim Nagel – we still have a long way to go because we haven't killed the inflation beast yet. My colleagues on the ECB board and I will continue to do so."
From the front Fed on the other hand it is a widespread opinion, according to Reuters, that the US central bank will hike rates by 25 basis points next month to 5,00%-5,25%, but “recent economic data signaling a slowdown in the US economy has heightened the debate over whether whether it is the last hike of this cycle”.
