At least three home games will hold court today between the virtual fences in Piazza Addari.
1) After halting negotiations with H3G, Telecom Italia's board of directors pronounced another fateful no last night. The company froze the network spin-off project and the negotiations for Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to enter the company's capital as a response to the Communications Authority's decision to cut the unbundling tariffs, those that competitors pay to Telecom to use the copper network. “The board of directors”, explains the note with which Telecom announced the freezing of the project, “has acknowledged that the uncertainties introduced by the recent decisions of Agcom risk jeopardizing its feasibility. It has therefore resolved that, before proceeding to further implementation phases of the same, the consistency of the contents and of the regulatory path with the assumptions underlying the project is verified".
2) Where does Mediaset's boom come from and where will it lead? Yesterday, the Fininvest house stock scored a jump of 6,9% on trades that involved 2,5% of the capital. Since January, the Biscione has risen by 120 percent. Is it really all due to the optimism expressed by UBS analysts on the recovery of advertising sales in the coming months? Or is it no longer logical to think of a new partner capable of supporting Fininvest, as Pier Silvio Berlusconi himself has already partially hinted? Will the surprising alliance with the Murdoch group take shape? We will see today whether the achievements of the lucky investors will rain or whether the operation has a broader strategic breadth.
3) The deputation of the MPS Foundation has given the go-ahead for the elimination of the 4% ceiling on the voting rights on the MPS bank +1,8%. Several deputies reportedly abstained. The statutory amendment, which will be presented to the shareholders at Thursday's meeting, should make the Sienese bank contestable and thus facilitate the identification of the shareholder that the top management has been looking for for some time. In the end, the Alessandro Profumo line won
BANKS US SUPERSTARS, WAITING FOR BERNANKE
The markets are preparing for the most awaited appointment of the week: tomorrow, at 16 pm Italian time, Fed Governor Ben Bernanke will face the first of two parliamentary hearings. It will be an opportunity to shed light on the Fed's strategies regarding QE and tapering, the two summer catchphrases of global finance. In the meantime, the American stock market is in equilibrium with the Dow Jones and S&P indices up by 0,1%, Nasdaq +0,21%.
The disappointing data on the trend in consumption in the USA in June (+0,4% against expectations of +0,8%) dampened the enthusiasm for the good results arriving from the banks. After JP Morgan, it's up to Citigroup +2% to unleash a profit higher than expected (1,25 dollars against 1,18) . US bank accounts are flying, to the delight of the stock exchanges. Even the trial of Fabrice Tourre, the Goldman Sachs trader on trial in New York for the subprime scandal is being followed more with curiosity than anger: Corporate America is back in full swing.
TOKYO POSITIVE, INDIAN RATES GO UP
Asia has digested the slowdown in Chinese GDP without trauma (+7,5% from +7,7% in the first quarter), in line with economists' expectations and consistent with the "ideal growth" target set by the government of Beijing. This morning the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed yesterday to facilitate the unification of the electronic platforms of Tokyo and Osaka, is recording a rise of around 0,4%. Hong Kong -0,08% down slightly. The most relevant news comes from India. The central bank raised the interest rate level from 8,25 to 10,25%.
LISBON FEVER FALLS, BTP/BUND SPREAD AT 288
Positive closure for the European stock exchanges. The London and Paris stock exchanges gained 0,6%, Frankfurt +0,2%, Madrid +0,1%. Calm has also returned to the government bond market after last week's jolts caused by the worsening political scenario in Spain and Portugal. In the evening, the 10-year Btp traded at a yield of 4,46% with a spread at 288, down by 3 basis points.
BPM -3,1% IN FREE FALL AFTER S&P VOTE
In evidence Piazza Affari: the FtseMib index rose by 1% The banks moved in contrast: Unicredit +0,9%, Intesa +1,5%. Bad crash for Pop.Milano -3,1% after the downgrade of S&P. On the contrary, Azimut flies (+3,2%) on the rumors of a possible acquisition of Anima Sgr from Bpm. Generali rose by 1,5%, Fondiaria-Sai fell by 1,2%, Cattolica Assicurazioni recorded a rise of 3,8%. In great evidence Prysmian +1,9% supported by the rise in the price of copper.
Fiat achieved an increase of 2%, Exor +1,9%. After changes to Spanish regulation announced on Friday, Mediobanca cut EPS estimates for Spanish utilities, for Enel +0,95% and Enel Green Power +0,53%. Emmanuel Besnier, owner of Lactalis, has purchased a further 0,5% of Parmalat for a value of 21,43 million euros. Lactalis controlled 82,4% of the capital of the Collecchio group, according to data from the last meeting of 14 June.
