In a session where they will intertwine a series of important events for Europe, the Asian world breathed a sigh of relief during the night for the end of the first round of trade negotiations between Washington and Tokyo considered satisfactory. The Japan is the first major trading partner to negotiate directly with the United States, a test case for more than 70 nations reportedly seeking better terms on tariffs announced by Trump and then abruptly shelved this month. Asian stocks They recorded a slight increase after Trump said there had been “great progress” in talks to reach a deal that would spare Japan higher taxes. Gold hit a new record, while Treasury yields and the dollar gauge edged up slightly. US dollar futures European stock exchanges indicate a little varied opening of the session where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will meet Trump in turn, ECB will cut rates and Ps will vote on Mediobanca.
Wall Street closes sharply lower after Powell's warning
US stocks closed sharply lower yesterday, with the Dow Jones down 1,7%, the S&P 500 down 2,2% and the Nasdaq down 3%.
The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell warned that the duties decided by Trump, "higher than even our highest estimate", risk creating more inflation and less economic growth, complicating the framework for monetary policy, since these developments may require measures in opposite directions, to stabilize inflation and ensure maximum employment goals. The tariffs also put jobs at risk, said Powell, specifying that “without price stability we cannot achieve long periods of good labor market conditions”.
In the S&P 500 basket, the energy sectors performed well, while the most sold sectors were information technology (-3,94%), consumer secondary goods (-2,69%) and telecommunications (-2,48%). It is worth noting the poor performance of Apple , which recorded a decrease of 3,89%. Also in the red Microsoft, which shows a sharp decline of 3,66% and 3M, which falls by 3,55%. Black session for ASML Holding, which leaves a loss of 7,06% on the table. In loss Nvidia, which falls by 6,87%.
The US administration is considering cut about $40 billion of financing to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), reports the Washington Post citing a budget draft, known as a "passback." The cuts would represent about a third of HHS's discretionary spending. The draft shows how the administration plans to reorganize federal health agencies that oversee food and drug safety, manage the nation's response to infectious disease threats and promote biomedical research, the Washington Post.
In the United States, American Express, Blackstone and Truist Financial will publish their first-quarter results, after a series of relatively positive results from American financial companies that have countered the negative trend on Wall Street.
Asia comforted by US-Japan talks
The talks between Tokyo and Washington, in which Trump himself participated directly, did not lead to an immediate decision on customs tariffs, but "great progress" is being made, the US president himself wrote last night on his social media site, which communicated greater optimism. So much so that the parties have decided to speed up preparations for the second round of meetings. The exact date is not yet known, but it should be before the end of the month, the leader of the Japanese negotiating team, Ryosei Akazawa, hinted.
The indications on the progress of the comparison, to some extent confirmed also by the Japanese delegation, have brought the risk appetite after Wall Street closed lower. Most of the asian bags salt. Their, safe haven purchases, continues to rise and tonight a another record, at $3.343 an ounce. Raw materials also rise: WTI oil at $63 a barrel.
The reference index of the Tokyo stock exchange gains 0,8%. Stops the race yen, after yesterday's jump, and is trading at 142,6 to the dollar this morning: the yen is reportedly not expected to enter the talks, which dampens fears that Washington was demanding a strengthening of the currency.
The bag of Hong Kong is among the best in Asia. Hang Seng Index +1,36%. The component stands out tech: Hang Seng Tech Index gains 2,4%. Tencent and Alibaba, up 3%, contribute significantly to the movement. The stock markets China are little moved: CSI 300 of the Shanghai and Shenzhen lists -0,1%. Shares of companies related to services, including large hotel chains, are rising in view of a government communication regarding interventions to favor the opening of the sector.
The Taiex index of Taipei loses 0,5%. The Chinese President Xi Jinping promoted the idea of a “Asian family” and called for regional unity during a tour of Southeast Asia, in an apparent attempt to counter U.S. pressure on nations to limit trade ties with Beijing. China, meanwhile, says it will sit down at the negotiating table negotiation with Trump, when the denigrating remarks will stop, he wrote tonight Bloomberg. Other conditions for starting negotiations are the following: a more coherent US position on the issue, a clear demonstration of the willingness to address China's concerns regarding American sanctions and Taiwan, and the appointment of a point person for the talks.
European stock markets seen little moved, eyes on MPS and luxury
European stock markets are expected to open slightly below parity based on indications provided by fitures: -0,31% the future on the Eurostoxx50. The coming days are expected to be intense. Starting today with the premier Meloni who will try to find an agreement with Trump on tariffs, the ECB expected to lower rates by 25 basis points and provide indications on the economic repercussions of the duties on the euro zone. Tomorrow there will be a visit to Rome by the American vice president JD Vance. And the second round of negotiations is on Saturday USA-Iran on nuclear power, probably planned at the Omani embassy.
Business Square the most important event will be the assembly of the Monte dei Paschi called to vote on the capital increase to service the 13,3 billion euro offer on Mediobanca. The president of the doctors' pension fund Enpam, owner of just under 2% of MPS, told the Messenger who will vote today in favor of the increase in service of the takeover bid on Mediobanca, sharing the industrial sense of the operation. Also in favor is Inarcassa, a fund for engineers and architects, which has about 3% of the Sienese bank, according to some newspapers.
The assemblies of are also being held today Banca Generali, Banca Ifis and Geox.
Eni is speeding up the divorce from Gazprom. The Italian company officially confirms to the SEC that it wants to end the relationship as soon as possible. The two groups are still linked by long-term take-or-pay contracts. In the meantime, Russian gas has been completely replaced and supplies for subsidiaries Enipower and Plenitude have also been replaced. “We intend to continue to replace Russian natural gas in our portfolio with volumes from other suppliers and geographical areas, with the aim of terminating the supply contracts currently in place with Russian counterparts as soon as possible,” the document reads.
Stellantis. The subsidiary Comau has signed a binding agreement for the acquisition of 100% of Automha, an Italian company operating in the warehouse automation and internal logistics sector, owned by Trasma. The completion of the transaction, says a note from Comau, is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2025. Rbc has lowered the target price from 12 to 9 euros (sector perform rating). Jefferies has done the same, but with a more significant cut from 14 to 9 euros (hold rating).
Siemens Energy raised its guidance for the current year, indicating upside risk to consensus on sales and margins for its Grid Technologies business, without tariffs having a significant impact on second-half margins.
Unicredit Barclays raises the target price to 56,3 euros.
Moncler closed the first quarter of 2025 with slightly increased revenues, supported by growth in the direct channel for both the Moncler brand and Stone Island. Consolidated group revenues – as stated in a note – amounted to 829 million euros, up 1% at constant exchange rates, slightly above the 817 million of the consensus provided by the company. The Moncler brand saw an increase of 2% to 721,8 million, driven by a +4% in the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) distribution channel, the one most taken into consideration by analysts. The result in China is notable, especially if compared to what was communicated by the number one in the sector, LVMH. Rbc has, however, filed down the target price from 65 to 64 euros (sector perform rating).
BRUNELLO CUCINELLI closed the first quarter with double-digit revenue growth and confirmed the objective of closing 2025 and 2026 with a turnover increase of approximately 10%.
Campari. Pernod Ricard closes the quarter with sales down 3% year-on-year, worse than expected.
Generali. The turnout at next week's meeting is expected to be just over 70%, writes Repubblica, while MF estimates a turnout of between 70% and 75%.
Hermes closed the first quarter of 2025 with revenues up 9% to 4,1 billion euros (+7% at constant exchange rates), with all geographical areas recording an increase. In detail, revenues in Asia excluding Japan rose 1% to 1,97 billion, when in Japan they increased by 17% to 421 million euros. Sales in North and South America rose 11% to 695 million, when in Europe excluding France they rose 13% to 501 million and in France they recorded a +14% to 357 million, thanks above all to good tourist flows. In the rest of the world, including the Middle East, sales grew 14% to 185 million. The luxury group will “fully compensate” for the impact of the 10% American tariffs by increasing its sales prices in the United States “starting from the first
May and for all sectors,” said the group’s CFO, Eric Halgouet, who did not specify the size of this increase.
Mfe proposed an 8% increase in the annual dividend and wrote down the value of the stake in ProSiebenSat.