The EU's fifth package of sanctions against Russia (which includes the embargo on coal and not on gas) cools European markets, but does not freeze them. The closure is mixed: Business Square loses 0,86% and retreats to 24.960 basis points; they are in red Paris -1,28% Frankfurt -0,68% and Amsterdam -0,24%. Positive Madrid +1,19% and London + 0,69%.
Sales also resumed on bonds and yields rose, in particular the 0,61-year Bund reached +XNUMX%.
The start is also out of tune on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq loses about 1,5%, after the progress made on the eve. Twitter continues to fly (+4%), fresh from yesterday's leap of more than 27%, with Elon Musk becoming the first shareholder of the famous social network. Supporting buying on the stock today is news that Musk will join the company's board of directors.
In addition, i US Treasury bond yields: the ten-year bond reaches 2,549% and exceeds the rate of two-year bonds. However, the inversion of the curve between 5 and 10 year bonds and 5 and 30 year bonds remains. A trend considered as a warning of the next recession. The minutes of the last meeting of the Fed are expected to be published tomorrow, while there are now bets on a 50 basis point adjustment at the next meeting. And on the subject the alarm of the member of the governing council Lael Brainard resounds: inflation - he says - is "really too high", for this reason the Federal Reserve is ready to act quickly and more aggressively to counter it. The squeeze passes "through a series of interest rate increases" and through "the beginning of the budget reduction at a rapid pace, already from the May meeting".
On the currency market the euro appears more and more crushed by dollar, with the exchange rate down in the 1,092 area.
Among commodities, the Petroleum, currently slightly down (Brent at 107,40 dollars a barrel, -0,12%), while the natural gas, which rises again with the news that Russian gas will not be affected by the sanctions.
Piazza Affari: the sanctions sink Stm, the spread rises
Pharmaceuticals, utilities and oil stocks are appreciated on the main list of Piazza Affari, together with Unipol +2,49% and Campari + 2,14%.
Queen of the price list is Recordati +3,49%. Well Enel + 2% Terna + 2,13% Diasorin + 1,78%.
The worst drop is for stm, -5,34%, which plunges with the block on exports to Moscow. Industrial stocks such as are confirmed in the red, as in recent days Interpump -5,17%; stellantis -3,68% Iveco -4,17%.
The big banks are negative, Unicredit -2,84% and Understanding -2,53%.
It rears up spread between the Italian and German ten-year period, which rises to 163 basis points, showing an increase of 4,97% compared to yesterday's closing.
Yields rose: the 10-year BTP grew by +2,25% and the Bund by +0,61%. Meanwhile, Italy, like other European countries, has expelled 30 Russian diplomats.
EU sanctions: ports, oil and coal
Coal, but not only. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented the fifth package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, which ranges between a ban on exports (including technological products such as semiconductors) for around 10 billion and a block on imports of coal, for about 4 billion euros a year. The new sanctions also include the ban on access to European ports for Russian ships, the ban on access to the EU for Russian trucks, the stop to transactions by four Moscow banks, including Vtb, the country's second most important bank. The president also announced that the Union is working on an oil embargo. For now, gas is vetoed by Germany, heavily dependent on Russian imports like Italy.
Inflation runs in the OECD area at the top since '90
In this context inflation runs in the OECD area, which reached +7,7% on an annual basis in February from +7,2% in January, reaching the top since December 1990. Part of the increase - specifies the OECD in a note - reflects the strong increase in Turkey, where inflation reached 54,4% from 48,7% in January, but even excluding Ankara, inflation in the area marks an increase to 6,3% from 5,8% in January. Above all, energy and food weigh heavily, without which inflation in the 38 industrialized countries is 5,5% from 5,1% in January. Prices increased in all G7 countries (average inflation +6,3%), but the greatest increases were recorded by Italy (5,7% from 4,8%) and France (3,6% from 2,9%), while Germany recorded the smallest increase (5,1% from 4,9%). The US rose to 7,9% from 7,5%, the UK to 5,5% from 4,9%, Canada to 5,7% from 5,1% and Japan to 0,9% from 0,5%.
There is talk again of a default for Russia
“The United States prevented the Russian government from paying its sovereign debt holders more than $600 million from reserves held in US banks, in a move intended to gobble up Moscow's dollar reserves,” Reuters reports. There is therefore talk of a possible default of the country again, since the American choice would have the aim of forcing Moscow to make the difficult decision whether to use the dollars to which it has access to pay off its debt or for other purposes, including support for the its war effort.
However, the Kremlin lets it be known that increases in gas and oil prices are increasing Moscow's revenue. Indeed, Russia expects to obtain 798,4 billion rubles in additional revenues from sales in April, due to high crude oil prices. In March, however, the Finance Ministry received 302 billion rubles less in oil and gas revenues than originally planned, due to lower gas sales, the ministry revealed.
