Today there is something for everyone. On the geopolitical level all the attention is on the phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump today on the topic of ceasefire and peace in Ukraine. In Germany a change to the constitution will be voted on to kick-start a major rearmament and economic relaunch package. Finally, investors will be targeting NvidiaCEO Jensen Huang will deliver a keynote address at the annual software developers conference on the future of his nearly $3 trillion chip company as pressure mounts on its biggest customers to rein in the costs of artificial intelligence.
On this day full of key events from many points of view, in which investors take refuge in thegold taking it to a new historical high above $3.017 an ounce, the monetary policy piece is added: the Fed kicks off the FOMC meeting today and will announce its decision on interest rates tomorrow, but similar decisions will also be made by central banks in Japan, Great Britain, Sweden and Switzerland this week. The Petroleum, After the Breaking of truce with Hamas by the Israeli army: during the night there was a large-scale attack on the Strip. Brent at $71,4 a barrel.
Trump and Putin's conversation
In the European afternoon (in the morning in the United States) the phone call between Trump and Putin would be, at least in intentions, the milestone to put an end to the fighting in Ukraine. One of the objectives of the call should be to convince the Russian president to accept a 30-day ceasefire, proposed by Trump this month and accepted by Ukraine. Putin has so far been silent, saying he accepted the idea in principle but wanted certain conditions to be met. Trump has hinted that the United States and Russia are already discussing how to divide “assets” in Ukraine, raising concerns that he might sacrifice Kiev's interests in a deal with Putin. Trump said land, power plants and "division of some assets" would be discussed. On Monday, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Russia's conditions for accepting a ceasefire showed Moscow did not really want peace.
Russian stocks for sale
In a sign of potential economic openness, Putin has allowed some international funds, including American ones, to sell Russian securities. In a presidential decree, Putin allowed U.S.-registered 683 Capital Partners LP to buy securities of Russian companies owned by about a dozen Western asset management and hedge funds. Franklin Advisers Inc., Templeton Asset Management Ltd. and Baillie Gifford Overseas Ltd. were among the funds that received the right to sell assets.
The Future of the Magnificent Seven at the Annual Software Developers Conference
Investors will also be looking at the annual software developers conference, which could provide insights into the future and the stability of the technological Magnificent Seven in the United States. Today, the CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang will deliver the keynote address, as he defends the dominance of his nearly $3 trillion chip company as he increases pressure on its biggest customers to rein in AI costs. At this week’s conference, Nvidia is also expected to reveal details of a chip system called Vera Rubin, a successor to its Blackwell chips.
Wall Street closes positive, but weighed down by tech
Positive session for the US stock market yesterday, bringing home a 0,85% gain on the Dow Jones; along the same lines, a small leap forward for the S&P-500, which reaches 5.675 points. Slightly positive for the Nasdaq 100 (+0,55%) despite the ballast of large-cap companies: Bloomberg index Magnificent 7 is at -1%. The S&P 100 (+0,3%) made a fractional progress. Some macroeconomic data contributed to supporting the American market, in particular the retail sales. In a more favorable climate than last week, the outcome of the Fed meeting on Wednesday evening is awaited, even if a stalemate on the steps is practically a given. Greater attention will be paid to the updated forecasts on the economy.
Germany: Historic vote for rearmament and economic revival
The old Bundestag will meet for the last time today to vote on a single agenda item: “Amendments to the Constitution.” The maxi rearmament and economic relaunch package worth hundreds of billions of euros, agreed by the Chancellor in pectore and leader of the Christian Democrats Friedrich Merz with his probable future deputy in a grand coalition government, the leader of the SPD Lars Kingbeil, will arrive at the Reichstag plenary session at 10. But to pass, it will have to collect a two-thirds majority.
BYD Announces Super-Fast Car Charging. China Supports Consumers
In continuation of Wall Street's higher close, almost all Asia Pacific stock markets are rising. The index Hang Seng gains 1,8%, from Monday's +0,8%. Hang Seng Tech +2,4% driven by Alibaba Group +5,4%, the short-video platform Kuzhou Technology to +4,6%, Byd, the Chinese electric car giant, up 6%. The latter presented the Super e-Platform cwith the technology of ultra-fast charging from 1.000 kW, which promises to be twice as powerful as Tesla's latest generation 4 kW V500 Supercharger, which Elon Musk's company has planned to open in China in 2025. This is, in the Shenzhen group's plans, a turning point in electric vehicle technology capable of reducing charging times: power peaks of up to 1.000 kW have been designed to recharge 100 kWh batteries in about 10 minutes. The mainland Chinese stock markets are only slightly positive: the CSI 300 index of the Shanghai and Shenzhen lists is up 0,1%.
China's world-record stock rally could get a fresh catalyst from a series of tech gains, with Xiaomi Corp. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. set to report this week. New data showed foreign investment in China's onshore markets rose to a record high in February. The chairman Trump said that the Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Washington soon. The Chinese government has announced some additional child care subsidies and other measures to in favor of consumers.
La Tokyo Stock Exchange is positive for the fourth consecutive session: Nikkei index +1,4%. The yen weakens further to 149,6 on the eve of the central bank's monetary policy meeting. The banks, in tune with rising bond yields: the sector's benchmark index hits its highest since 2007. Trading company shares rise after Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stakes in some of the country's most important companies. Toyota leads the rise in the automotive segment, while analysts positively comment on the even closer collaboration with HondaThere is also optimism that the growth in tourism will benefit Japan's major rail operators, which are set to raise fares starting next month to coincide with the opening of Expo 2025 in Osaka.
The bag of Alone is at parity, Indian stocks opened higher: BSE Sensex Mumbai, +1,2%. The stock market collapses Jakarta: -twenty%.
European stocks: Iveco, Eni and Leonardo to watch
European stocks expected to open higher. EuroStoxx50 index futures up 0,5%.
Eni. French group Vauban Infrastructure Partners, Vesper Infrastructure Partners, international fund Kingston Capital and Norwegian private equity firm HitecVision have submitted non-binding offers to buy 49% of Eni's biomethane division Enibioch4in, says the Sun 24 hours. Eni, through a spokesperson, specifies that "it does not comment on specific information relating to existing offers, but confirms that the process is ongoing".
General, Unipol. Confindustria requests a three-month postponement of the obligation to subscribe to catastrophe insurance policies, which is due to come into force on March 31
Iveco The Franco-German alliance Knds, the Czech group Csg and the British giant Bae Systems are interested in the division of Iveco that manufactures vehicles for defense and civil protection, Iveco Defence Vehicles. This was reported by Il Corriere della Sera, citing several sources.
Leonardo Bernstein raises the target price to 49 euros. The board of directors has approved a new corporate organization, which introduces the creation of two Joint General Directorates. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has risen by 80%.
Recordati announces the full results for 2024, the focus is on the dividend: based on a payout ratio of 64% in line with last year, analysts expect 1,25 euros/share, considering the interim dividend of 0,60 euros/share paid in November.
Stellantis. Tomorrow, President John Elkann is expected in Parliament in Rome, where at 14.30:XNUMX p.m. he will appear before the House of Representatives' Productive Activities Committee and the Senate Industry Committee. Yesterday, Elkann was in Paris. The media reported that the head of Exor in France held a series of meetings with the group's top brass.
Illimity. Bank Ifis. In a report by Bankitalia, some observations emerge on the governance of the institute under takeover bid by Banca Ifis. According to what is reported The messenger, “the bodies, although characterized by high professionalism and internal dialectic, did not pay the necessary attention to the intrinsic riskiness of business activities and to the adequacy of internal controls”, reads the inspection report, as reported by the newspaper.
MFE-Media For Europe. The supervisory board of ProSiebenSat.1, in which MFE is the largest shareholder with almost 30%, has put on hold a possible deal that would see US private equity firm General Atlantic (GA) take a minority stake in the German broadcaster, sources told Reuters.
