Difficult morning in Piazza Affari segnated by the tensions on the spread and the investigations involving UnipolSai. The stock of the Bologna-based company was suspended after the searches on the merger operation with the Ligresti galaxy and the investigation by the Milan prosecutor's office on the hypothesis of insider trading against the top management of CEO Carlo Cimbri. UnipolSai now falls by 5,6%, worst stock on the Ftse Mib. On the main basket, Bper -3,19%, Mediobanca -2,69%, Azimut -2,15% and A2A -2% all fall. The Fste Mib leaves 0,91% on the ground and the spread rises to 188 basis points.
The other European Stock Exchanges are also in difficulty which move contrasted around parity: Frankfurt +0,10%, London +0,06% Paris +0,19%. Weigh caution in view of the European elections on Sunday and the macro data of the euro area on the PMI indices which measure the confidence of those responsible for business purchases. The index fell in May to 52,5 points from 53,4 in April and below expectations. This is the lowest figure in the last two months according to what was released by Markit. Great Britain's GDP is doing well, rising by 0,8% in the first quarter, in line with consensus. On an annual basis, growth is 3,1%, unchanged with respect to a first preliminary estimate. In France, business confidence declined slightly to 99 from an indication of 100 in April.
Mediaset +3% runs against the trend in Piazza Affari pending news on a possible sale of Premium, Buzzi Unicem +1,35%, Telecom Italia +0,84%. Gtech +0,51%, Autogrills +0,38%. Outside the Ftse Mib, judicial troubles also overwhelm Banca Carige which, however, does not seem to be affected on the stock exchange. The stock rises by 1,66%. Seven pre-trial detention orders have been carried out in these hours by the Guardia di Finanza for fraud in the insurance sector of the Carige group. In addition to insurance fraud, the order issued by the investigating judge of Genoa hypothesizes transnational criminal association, fictitious registration and money laundering. Among those arrested was the vice president of ABI and former president of the Carige board of directors Giovanni Berneschi who was placed under house arrest for alleged fraud and money laundering against the bank. According to the Guardia di Finanza, from 2006 to 2009, the "inflated purchases of companies headed by compliant people resulted in around 21 million euros being brought to Switzerland".
Istat has announced that from October also in Italy, as in most EU countries, it will move to a new accounting system for measuring GDP which will be able to bring out "significant revisions" from 1995 onwards. This is the 2010 version of the ESA (European System of Accounts) which is defined by Eurostat and which will also have an impact on the crucial quantities for the governance of the EU and of each member state, such as "for example, the decifit/GDP ratio and the debt/GDP ratio (the so-called Maastricht Parameters)”. On October 3 the first release.
