AFTER EUROPE AND THE USA, ASIA IS ALSO BRAKING OFF
THE RECESSION EFFECT WEIGHTS ON THE PRICE LISTS
Lo specter of recession go back to wandering through the lists. The slowdown of the German economy, confirmed by the cuts in Opel, the accumulation of unsold goods in the warehouses of Chinese corporations and the increase in US unemployment benefits cast a disturbing light on the markets, still awaiting the decisions of the central banks.
The Asian lists thus close the week with a marked decrease: Tokyo – 1,17% , Hong Kong -1,13%. The Shanghai index slips to its lowest level since March 2009, while experts revise their GDP growth forecasts for 2012 downwards from 8,4 to 8%.
Nervous sitting on Wall Street: Dow Jones -0,88%, S&P -0,81%, Nasdaq – 0,66%.
La Milan Stock Exchange closed lower, with the FtseMib index posting a loss of 1,37%. The stock exchanges of Paris (-0,84%) and Frankfurt (-0,97%) were also negative, while London remained slightly above parity (+0,04%).
All markets felt the brunt of the statements of the president of the Federal Reserve of Saint Louis, James Bullard, who in a TV interview said he was skeptical about the prospects of the euro zone and warned that at most one can hope that the region "could manage as best it could" with the debt crisis. But above all, Bullard froze the hopes of a new round of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve, saying that the chances of new initiatives being decided in this sense are lower than what the markets estimate.
Now the focus is on President Ben Bernanke's August 31 Jackson Hole speech, in Wyoming, where every year the Fed organizes a meeting of the main central bankers from all over the world. But Bernanke's room for maneuver is now conditioned by the electoral campaign. The Republicans have chosen the banker, who comes from George W. Bush's staff, as one of the enemies to beat.
No decision before mid-September. Indeed, it is easy to go in October. Angela Merkel and François Hollande have chosen the tactic of postponement in the face of the Greek request for a two-year moratorium to return to the parameters established with the European Union. Wolfgng Schaueble played the part of the villain for the occasion. The German Finance Minister has in fact declared that "giving more time to Athens is equivalent to lending more money".
'It will be important for me to tell the Greek premier Samaras that it is important that everyone keeps their commitments' said the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, welcoming the French president, Francois Hollande, on an official visit to Berlin. "It is my wish that Greece stays in the Eurozone, but Greece on its side must naturally make the necessary efforts," Hollande replied.
Before putting your hand once again to the Greece fileIn short, the EU leaders are awaiting the outcome of two crucial appointments: the ECB directorate on 6 September and the decision of the German Consulta on the legitimacy of the ESM under German law.
After the dry denials of Spiegel's advances on the anti-spread shield, it's up to Die Welt to try to guess Mario Draghi's moves. A flexible ceiling for the spreads of Italy and Spain is being studied, which the ECB will try to defend. Objectives will be kept secret (as far as possible…) in order not to offer reference points for speculation.
Meanwhile in Milan almost all the blue chips closed lower. Among the banks, only MontePaschi maintained a positive change (+1,4%). Unicredit lost 1,7%, Intesa 3,2%, Banco Popolare 1% and Pop.Milano 1,3%.
Sharp retreat of Generali -3,6%.
The signals coming from Opel, which suspended the activity for its 9.000 thousand employees, do not help Fiat -0,7% and Fiat Industrial -0,7%. Pirelli +0,5%.
Bad day for Finmeccanica which lost 3,2% on news that Australia's Qantas canceled an $8,5 billion order for 35 new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner airplanes. Finmeccanica is an important partner of Boeing in the construction of the Dreamliner. Cement companies have come to the fore throughout Europe. Buzzi +1,3%, Cementir +1,7%, Italcementi +3,5%.
Shopping is back Mediaset, up 0,8%. Telecom Italy -1,7%, while the alliance between Metroweb and Wind is looming.
Reductions also for Enel -1% ed Eni -1%.
Among the utilities, Iren has risen, up 3,1%: a the company spun off the subsidiary Ambiente, the first step for a joint venture with F2i in the waste business. A foreign broker, reporting the news, underlines that Iren's waste sector is worth 296 million euro and confirms the 'hold' rating on the stock, awaiting the results for the second quarter and a new industrial plan, expected after the summer .
Sanitation climbed 18,5%. The newspapers resume the indiscretion of an interest by the Hines real estate company in the Santa Giulia area. Risanamento has published a press release in which it confirms contacts with Hines.
Unipol and Fondiaria Sai, together with the banks of the guarantee consortia, will decide next Monday when to start the auctions of the unexercised rights of the respective capital increases. The start of the auctions should therefore probably not be before the beginning of September. The unsubscribed of the two increases totals 660 million euros (about 30% of the total amount of the two operations) and what will not be subscribed will go to the banks of the guarantee consortia, led by Mediobanca and Unicredit and also made up of Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Nomura and Barclays. The names of the candidates for Premafin's board of directors will also be known on Monday or Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if the Ligresti (shareholders with 5,92%) and the offshore funds guarded by the lawyer Alessandro Della Cha' will also come forward (2,6%) for the position reserved for the minority director. On the Stock Exchange, Unipol lost 2,2% to €2,13, above the subscription price of the new shares of €2. Even Fonsai, despite the drop in today's session, managed to equalize the price of the increase, closing at 1,01 euro.
