A swallow does not make spring. The European markets seemed to be on the road to recovery, mainly in the wake of the rise in oil, which reached its highest level since November 2015 (with WTI and Brent close to 50 dollars a barrel), but precisely the slowdown in crude oil, combined with the weak start of Wall Street, made all the price lists of the Old Continent turn negative from the middle of the day onwards. The Ftse Mib, which in the morning had managed to gain more than 1% driven by the rebound of Mediaset and some banks, then suddenly reversed course, losing 1,34% below 17.500 points. The other Stock Exchanges were a little better: London was saved in the end +0,2%, Frankfurt -0,6%, Paris -0,3%.
Three main factors for the decline of the Milan Stock Exchange: the collapse of SuperPopolare, with Banco Popolare and Bpm losing respectively 6,5 and 5,5%; the difficulties of the Agnelli galaxy, in particular of FCA which leaves over 6,5% on the ground (it is the worst stock in the main basket) penalized by the "underperform" rating of Exane Bnp Paribas; and the decline in the luxury sector, in particular Salvatore Ferragamo and Yoox Net-A-Porter which both lost just under 4%.
Net of the speculation that underlies the market volatility, in turn emphasized by super-fast trades, the negative signals coming from Wall Street are linked above all to fears that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates as early as next June. Today, indeed, the much-anticipated April inflation figure came in up 0,4%, the fastest pace for over three years, driven up by the rebound in gasoline's rebound. The move by Soros who turned his back on Wall Street by focusing on the safe haven par excellence, gold, in the aftermath of the opposite choice by Buffett who acquired almost 10 million Apple shares, also influences the US stock market.
In Milan, there are really a handful of titles going against the trend: among these Mediaset definitely stands out, which closed with an increase of 3,02% after a week - the one that passed from the publication of the quarterly - in which the Biscione had lost a total of 5,4%. Investors are convinced by the probable positive news coming from the fronts of advertising and cost cutting.
Outside the main basket, the rally of RCS also continues which already yesterday, driven by the announcement of the takeover bid by Investindustrial and the historic partners, had gained more than 16%: in today's session, the share of the publishing group adds another 3,1 % stabilizing above the purchase offer threshold (0,715 against 0,70 proposed by Bonomi and some shareholders).
The Btp Bund spread settles below the threshold of 140 basis points, while the euro confirms a slightly upward trend against the US dollar: today 1 euro is worth 1.133805 USD. Oil, as mentioned, slows down its run but still remains not far from 50 dollars a barrel: Brent is just above 49, Wti just above 48.
