In the final session, the European stock exchanges confirmed the declines, after a highly volatile day, especially for Milan: the Ftse Mib closed down by 1,07%, at 18.640,35 points, the Dax by 0,73%, the Ftse 100 in London by 1,01% and the Cac by 1,11%. After a negative start, in the morning Piazza Affari turned positive in contrast to the other European stock exchanges. However, the recovery did not last long: the lists backtracked after the results of the auction of 5 and 15-year BTPs which saw an increase in yields and did not convince the market.
The Treasury has placed securities for a value of 2,965 billion euros compared to a maximum target of three billion euros and the yields on 15-year BTPs have shot up to the highest levels since the introduction of the euro (5,90% from 5,34% of the last auction). The BTP with a 5-year maturity was placed with a yield of 4,93%. After the results, the euro fell below 1,42 dollars reaching 1,4178 and the spread between the Bund and the Btp finally started again, reaching again above 300 basis points and then returning in the afternoon to around 286 basis points.
On the other hand, the fact that the situation remains tense is confirmed by gold which reached a new high in London at 1.594 dollars an ounce. Moody's has declared that the United States risk losing triple A if an agreement on the debt ceiling cannot be found, while Greece has suffered a new rejection by Fitch which removed Athens from the 'negative rating watch' list bringing its rating to 'CCC'.
Meanwhile, the IMF has reiterated that the involvement of the private sector in a new pro-Greece plan is fundamental, inviting Athens to move more decisively on the front of fiscal and structural reforms. As if that were not enough, the ECB's monthly bulletin shows that the global recovery is struggling to take off, meanwhile "the downside risks associated with the persistent tensions in some market segments could spread to the real economy".
Added to this are the fears of the IMF: in a document presented to the G20 for the G20 on 9-10 July, the Monetary Fund states that the downside risks for the world economy have increased and economic growth in advanced economies is slow. Meanwhile, at the start Wall Street was driven by better-than-expected macro data (especially claims for unemployment benefits and retail sales) and the good quarterly performance of Jp Morgan. Currently the Dow Jones is up 0,08% and the Nasdaq is down 0,25%
AFTER THE INCREASES, BANKS ARE BACK IN THE RED BPM PRESENTS THE PLAN IN BANKITALIA
Piazza Affari recorded a volatile session dragged by the mood on bank stocks on which sales fell after the results of the mid-morning Btp auction. Not even the Senate's yes to the maneuver, which is thus on its way to final approval, has helped to lift the mood. The results of the European stress tests are expected for tomorrow which, according to what Mario Draghi told the ABI, should be generally positive. The sector thus experienced a mixed day also characterized by the good progress of Unicredit and Banco Popolare.
At the end of the session, however, the declines concerned all the major institutions: the Bank closed down by 0,28% to 1,408 euros, Unicredit lost 0,32% to 1,236 euros, Intesa Sanpaolo, strongly affected during the day, left the field 2,13% at 1,607 euros, Ubi 2,71% at 3,512 euros and Bmps 2,12 percent at 0,508 euros. Caltagirone's shopping continues on the Sienese institute and, according to internal dealing communications, between 8 and 11 July Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone purchased 10 million B.Mps shares at a price between 0,501 and 0,521 euro, for a total value of 5.074.800 euros. Bpm drops 2,23% to 1,491.
The vice president of Piazza Meda, Graziano Tarantini, declared in an interview with Corriere della Sera that the capital increase will be done by November and that it could be for an amount lower than the 1,2 billion euros envisaged by the delegation. On the increase in proxies, he then specified that it is not a definitive no and that it will be presented again when possible.
This afternoon the top management of Bpm went to Bankitalia to take stock of the changes taking place in the institution, prompted by the findings of via Nazionale, and to present the guidelines of the industrial plan which will be approved by the board on 19 July. Fondiaria Sai is still down (-1,37% to 2,014 euro). The deadline for exercising the rights to the capital increase expires tomorrow. In the meantime, the French of Groupama have abandoned the game: the group has withdrawn the request it had forwarded to Isvap, the insurance supervisory authority, to obtain authorization to acquire a stake in the capital of the Ligresti group between 10 and 20 percent.
Despite the confirmation of Fitch, Generali lost 2,42% to 13,29: the rating agency decided to confirm the Ifs rating at 'AA-' and the long-term rating at 'A+', without any change for the outlook which remains 'Stable' based on a robust operating performance in 2010 and positive expectations on solid margins from underwriting activity in its core markets, as well as extracting value from its presence in Central and Eastern Europe. FIAT, INTEGRATION WITH CHRYSLER ADVANCES Sergio Marchionne anticipated that Fiat and Chrysler will have a single leadership, instead of 25 managers each.
With the next council on July 26, the group will consolidate the results of Detroit. Fiat dropped 1,33% but Fiat Industrial, which cashed in on Goldman SSachs' hedge with a buy, closed up 0,77% at 8,515. Meanwhile, Fiom has proclaimed an eight-hour strike for tomorrow in the factories of both groups against the non-payment of the balance of the performance bonus and for workers' rights.
PARMALAT, LACTALIS AT 83,33% CONTRASTED RATINGS ON ENEL
Yesterday evening the final data of the Lactalis takeover bid on Parmalat were released, in which it is confirmed that the French now hold 83,33% of the capital. The company will remain listed. The stock today recorded a drop of 5,29% to 2,22 euros. Paul Singer increased his stake to 4,015%: 0,632% of this stake is held as a borrower, while the remaining 3,383% is owned. In addition, 2,006% is held through the subsidiary Elliott International and 2,009% through The Liverpool Limited Partnership.
Enel closed down 1,35% to 4,096, weighed down by the HSBC report which worsened the rating from overweight to neutral and reduced the target price from 5,10 to 4,70 euros. Today Beremberg Bank has instead started hedging the share with a buy and target price of 4,8 euros per share for three reasons: the share is valued at a discount on the sector (8,3 the price-earnings ratio against an average of 10,6 ), strong cash generation, dividends among the best in the sector (yield is 7,2% against 6,3% in the sector). Help also comes from Enel's positioning for renewables in Latin America. Mediaset and Mediolanum were also heavy, down respectively by 1,69% to 3,022 and 3,28% to 2,892 euros.
POLTRONA FRAU AND LUXOTTICA AMONG THE BEST CAMPARI'S ADVANCE CONTINUES
Among the best stocks are Poltrona Frau (+2,59%), Campari (+0,39%) and Luxottica (+0,94%), the latter in the wake of the buy from neutral promotion by UBS. A2A (-0,30% to 1,002) today published its third sustainability report: in 2010 the Global Added Value generated increased by 20%; 75% was distributed to the main interlocutors (investors, lenders, personnel, PA, local communities), the share of green electricity production grew by 7% and exceeded 36% of the total, 3 million tons of CO2 equivalents were avoided The number of accidents decreased by 10% compared to 2009; the presence of A2A in the international ethical indexes grows to ten.
