The Stock Exchanges cling to the central banks in order not to sink with the economy, which is increasingly in crisis. The IMF estimates leave few illusions. World growth is reduced from 3,9 to 3,6%. The Eurozone, which this year will drop by 0,4%, will limit itself to a timid +2013% in 0,2. As far as Italy is concerned, the IMF is freezing hopes of a hint of recovery in 2013 as announced by the government: the estimate is -0,7%.
In Asia, against the slowdown in Tokyo -0,60% due to growing fears about the European crisis, there is a rebound in Chinese markets: Hong Kong +1,23%, in line with Shanghai. Merit of the hopes, it is not known how well founded, of an upcoming QE by the central bank of Beijing, to be launched before the start of the party congress on November 8th.
Nervous sitting on Wall Street instead. At the end of the session, the Dow Jones fell by 0,19%, S&P -0,35%, Nasdaq -0,76%. Conditioning the session was Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), -2,2% on the wave of news of strikes from Chinese factories by Foxconn, the iPhone 5 workshop. Tonight, meanwhile, the quarterly season opens. The first, as per tradition, will be Alcoa yesterday down 0,9%.
Triple AAA grade, negative outlook. For once, Moody's judgment effectively captures both the potential and the limits of the new ESM, the EU's State-saving mechanism that has been in action since yesterday. Europe finally has the longed-for bazooka, launched after a ten-month gestation. But the rules of engagement are still missing, i.e. the ways to intervene in Spain, Cyprus and Slovenia.
Angela Merkel's visit to Athens is held today in this climate. Greece will reiterate its request to the chancellor for a moratorium on debt repayments. Merkel, as usual, will take refuge behind the judgment of the troika which is examining the Greek accounts. In reality, dialogue is prevented by two impossible conditions: Prime Minister Antonis Samaras knows that the country cannot afford a 13,5 billion spending cut as requested by the EU, on pain of disaster; Merkel is aware that any further opening to Greece would be strongly contested, at every level, in Germany. Thus we begin to talk about the possibility that Athens will not repay the EU loans.
The political and economic situation in the Eurozone weighed on the European stock exchanges yesterday: in Piazza Affari, the FtseMib index fell by 1,9%, marking the most marked drop, today, in the general decline of the European stock exchanges: in London the index Ftse100 lost 0,4%, in Paris the Cac 40 fell by 0,4%, Frankfurt -1,3%.
On the government bond market, the day was slow: the yield on the 10-year BTP is indicated at 5,05% (in line with Friday evening's closing), the spread at 358, widening by 7 basis points. The euro was down slightly against the dollar to 1,297, from 1,304 by Friday's close.
Enel -1,4% has filled up: the two issues of one billion each (5 and 10 years) launched yesterday morning received reservations for an amount six times higher. The issuer thus pays 10 basis points less for both bonds than what the two corresponding government bonds currently allow. Full success also for the 7-year Intesa bond (offered 3,7 times) while similar transactions were postponed by Unicredit and Banco Popolare.
Among the main stocks of Piazza Affari, the greatest drop was by Fiat which lost 4,1%. After the rumors of Messenger on an alleged Consob investigation into the liquidity of the Fiat group (22 billion euros), the company issued a statement in which it rejected the "allegations" of accounting irregularities and said it had no news of particular Consob activities against it. Fiat Industrial fell by 1,8%, Pirelli -2,7%. The automotive sector was the worst performer in Europe with a 2,2% loss in the Stoxx index.
Among other industrial stocks, StM suffers a decline of 2,6%. With an increase of 0,3%, Finmeccanica it is the only blue chip to have finished the session positively. Sharp declines among banks: Unicredit fell by 3,1%, Understanding -3,2% Mount Paschi -2,1%. The popular ones are very weak: Ubi -3,2% Banco Popolare -3,1% Pop Bank. Emilia -3,8%.
Today's shareholders' meeting of Monte Paschi called to approve the delegation for the capital increase of one billion by 2015 with the exclusion of the right of option for the current shareholders, including the Foundation, is expected to be hot. Among financial stocks, Generali lost 1,5%, Mediolanum closed down 2,8%, Unipol it fell by 3,6%.
Bad day for utilities: A2A fell by 3%, Enel Green Power -2% That -4,2% Iren -3%. Among the oil producers, Eni lost 1,4%, Saipem -1,6%. Bad day for too Telecom Italy, down 2,3%. Mediaset it fell 2,3% after Goldman Sachs confirmed the opinion sell, while raising the target price at 1,05 euro from 0,9 euro. Rcs rose 3,5% on rumors that Diego Della Valle would like to increase his stake to 12-16% from the current 8,7%.
Marcolin it ran up by 6,6% after the official confirmation that the private equity fund Pai is negotiating the purchase of a major stake from some shareholders.
