After being bombarded for days by Trumpian news alone, investors now have an alternative with the announcement of new chinese measures to lift the stock market in trouble, which pushed Asian stocks higher. Wall Street closed higher yesterday, supported mainly by technology stocks, with a stellar Netflix which brought home almost 10%. The dollar is at a standstill in the absence of details on tariffs, while a stimulus is expected from the central banks who will decide on rates in the next few days. Futures, however, suggest a weak opening in Europe, as well as in US stocks.
Wall Street closes higher, boosted by technology. Netflix +10%
Wall Street closed higher on Dow Jones of 0,30% and with a small leap forward for the S&P-500, which reaches 6.086 points. In net money the Nasdaq 100 (+1,33%) and the S&P 100 (+0,9%) also did well. Investors are weighing the prospect of tax cuts and deregulation under President Donald Trump, as well as signs of resilient economic growth.
The sectors that stand out in the S&P 500 basket are: informatics (+ 2,49%) and telecommunications (+1,14%). In the index, the worst performances were those of the utilities (-2,18%), energy (-1,75%) and materials (-0.79%) sectors. Among the best performers of the Nasdaq 100, Netflix (+ 9,69%), Modern (+ 7,27%), Nvidia (+ 4,43%) and Microsoft (+4,13%). Among the protagonists of the Dow Jones, Microsoft (+4,13%), Travelers Company (+3,16%), Procter & Gamble (+1,87%) and Amazon (+1,86%).
Read EVEN Netflix: Subscribers and profits grow faster than expected
China supports stock market with nearly $14 billion in funds
A new effort is coming from the Chinese authorities. This time it is the struggling stock market that is being supported, where the main benchmark indices have fallen by 3% since the beginning of the month, while elsewhere the main stock markets have risen. According to the chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Wu Qing, Beijing plans to channel hundreds of billions of yuan per year from the funds of the state insurance companies to the stock market, of which at least 100 billion yuan (13,75 billion dollars) in the first half of this year. The index blue chip CSI300 of China and the composite index of Shanghai jumped more than 1% on the news, as did the index Hang Seng, though they have since given up some of those gains. The news from China offered little support to MSCI's index of shares across Asia-Pacific outside Japan, which fell today after seven straight sessions of gains.
Softbank leads Nikkei rally
The Tokyo Stock Exchange benchmark rises 0,8% and the yen weakens to 156,5 against the dollar. Softbank is also the protagonist today: the stock of the tech conglomerate is up 5%, after yesterday's +11%. According to rumors reported by the newspaper The Information, SoftBank and OpenAI plan to engage 19 billion of dollars of capital each in Stargate, the project to create a network of data centers for artificial intelligence announced yesterday at the White House by Donald Trump. The two companies would thus each have 40% of the capital of Stargate. Trump anticipated that the joint venture in which Oracle also participates, will start with a one hundred billion dollar financing.
In Asia, stocks opened slightly higher of India, the stock market closed down Sidney. Straits Times Index of Singapore +0,7%. Weighed down by the colossus Hynix, the index KOSPI Seoul is down 1,3%. Shares of the top supplier of high-bandwidth memory to Nvidia are down 4,7% despite strong data. Hynix reported record operating profit for the quarter. In the final quarter of 2024, operating profit more than 8,08% increased to 5,6 trillion won ($75 billion), as revenue rose 25%, in line with analysts' estimates. The South Korean company also raised its annual dividend by 1.500% to XNUMX won per share and said it expects sales of high-bandwidth memory chips to double this year.
Dollar remains firm as central bank moves awaited
Il dollar has been trading in tight ranges against major currencies as it tries to find direction in the absence of any concrete announcements on duties by US President Donald Trump. A series of announcements are also expected in the coming days political decisions by central banks. The Bank of Japan kicked off its two-day monetary policy meeting today and markets have all but priced in a rate hike of 25 basis points following last week's advances by BOJ policymakers. It will likely take both the expected rate hike and an explicit promise of further increases in the future to halt a further slide in the yen, which today continued to move away from the one-month high hit earlier in the week. The rate decisions of the Federal Reserve American and of the European Central Bank are expected respectively for Wednesday e Thursday next week.
L'dollar index, which measures the currency against six major rivals, including the euro and the yen, was flat at 108,31 on Monday, after two days of gains of about 0,1%. It had fallen 1,2% on Monday, its steepest one-day decline since November 2023, as Trump’s first day in office brought a flurry of executive orders, but none on tariffs. So far, Trump has proposed tariffs of about 25% on Canada and Mexico and 10% on China starting Feb. 1. He has also promised tariffs on European imports, without providing details. Trump signed a broad trade memorandum on Monday, directing federal agencies to complete a thorough review of a range of trade issues. by April 1st, a date that many market operators believe will be crucial for the disclosure of tariff plans.
Lo Chinese yuan remained virtually unchanged at 7,2816 per dollar in offshore trading. The yen Japanese yen fell about 0,1% to 156,69, with markets pricing in a 96% chance of a quarter-point rise. The euro remained virtually unchanged at $1,0406. The ECB is widely expected to cut rates by a quarter point next week. The canadian dollar remained steady at 1,4389 against the greenback. The Bank of Canada is expected to cut rates by a quarter point next Wednesday. mexican peso remained virtually unchanged at 20,49 against the U.S. currency.
Oil continues to fall, but other raw materials rise
Sixth consecutive decline for the Brent: the progress since the beginning of January has shrunk to around 5%. The declaration of national emergency of US President Donald Trump to increase energy production (oil and gas). Added to this is the uncertainty about the potential impact of tariffs on growth global economic growth and energy demand. Meanwhile, according to API estimates, U.S. crude inventories rose by 958.000 barrels in the week ended January 17, while gasoline inventories rose by 3,23 million barrels and distillate inventories by 1,88 million barrels. Trading. We reiterate the strategy: take profit in the 80/81 USD area and buy on a correction around 75 USD.
The decline in crude oil was offset by moderate growth in other raw material such as iron, steel, coffee and US natural gas. Down -2,6% to 48,709 euros Gas EU (TTF) and 0,6% to 9.223 USD per tonne copper. Aluminum is almost unchanged, up +3% since the beginning of the year. The price Of their ($2.754) is at Wednesday morning levels, less than two percentage points from the record.
European stocks seen opening weak
Le European stocks seem destined for a negative opening (-0,25% the future on the Eurostoxx50). US futures are also falling (-0,07% on the Dow Jones and -0,16% on the S&P500). Yesterday, to the almost record of Wall Street, Europe responded with Frankfurt Dax record, of the London FTSE 100, of the EuroStoxx 600 index. To these was added the 25-year record of the EuroStoxx 50 index.
The data calendar is light in Europe today. A rate decision is expected from the Norges Bank, which is expected to keep rates unchanged.
Team has extended by 15 days until March 15 the exclusivity period with the Treasury and the Spanish fund Asterion for the sale of Sparkle, an operator in the submarine cables sector.
Commerzbank said he will engage in talks with Unicredit for a possible integration only if the Italian company presents a proposal, which has not yet been received.
Illimity has appointed Jefferies and Wepartners as financial advisors in the offer launched by Banca Ifis.
stellantis is moving forward with a project to build a new midsize pickup in Belvidere, Illinois.
Medium. Lake BidCo has announced that it has filed with Consob the document relating to the voluntary public purchase offer for all 11.419.189 ordinary shares of Mittel – a financial investment company listed on Euronext Milan – and representing 14,04% of the share capital. The acceptance period for the offer will begin on 30 January 2025 and will end on 27 February 2025, inclusive, unless extended. The consideration is set at 1,75 euros for each share tendered, with payment date set for 6 March 2025.
Eni and Cdp Equity they communicated the tacit renewal of the shareholders' agreement on 25% of the capital of Saipem.
Snam could submit a binding offer next month to acquire a stake in Eni's carbon capture business, CEO Stefano Venier said as Hera presented its new 2-2024 business plan.
Hera announced the signing of aFramework agreement with AIMAG (a group with the participation of 21 municipalities distributed in the provinces of Modena and Mantua, active in the sectors of environmental services, water cycle and energy) which will start a new phase of the industrial partnership project. The path includes, among other things, a capital increase in kind to be released through the transfer by Hera to AIMAG of a stake of approximately 45% of a newco to which the activities relating to the integrated water service of the province of Modena, currently under the control of Hera, will be transferred, concerning the management of 7.300 km of networks serving approximately 470.000 thousand citizens. The capital increase was defined by valuing AIMAG at approximately 7x the 2024 EBITDA and the newco at approximately 1,2x the RAB. The parties expect to complete the transaction by June 2025. Furthermore, the board of directors of the multi-service company listed on Euronext Milan, has reviewed the preliminary results 2024 and approved the Industrial Plan to 2028. The year just ended shows a positive performance of the industrial margins of all the businesses in the portfolio, with an expected EBITDA of more than 1.550 million euros, compared to 1.495 million in 2023. The robust cash generation, also supported by efficient management of working capital, has allowed the ratio between net debt/EBITDA to be maintained below 2,6x in line with the 2023 value. In light of these data, the dividend policy has been revised upwards: it is expected to propose to the Board of Directors a dividend distribution of 15 euro cents per share, up 7,1% compared to the 2023 coupon paid in 2024 and which compares with the 3,5% growth forecast of the previous Industrial Plan (14,5 cents).
AbitareIn, a leading Milanese company in residential development, listed on the Euronext STAR Milan segment, has approved the financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2024, which closed with consolidated revenues of 74,8 million, while Ebitda reached 17,1 million. Consolidated Ebt stood at 10,1 million, the net profit attributable to the group at 5,8 million. Consolidated net financial debt was 89,1 million, the net equity attributable to the group at 107,3 million. The parent company's revenues amounted to 11,1 million, and are mainly due to those "from service and intellectual property remuneration contracts signed with operating vehicles", as stated in the note. The profit, equal to 11,6 million, derives mainly from dividends distributed by the subsidiaries.