Is the emergency already over? Too early to tell, given that the launch of a missile last night in Baghdad was enough to curb Wall Street's rise, but the willingness of the markets to put an end to the Iranian crisis in order to restart on the upside is truly impressive. The US stock exchanges have resumed setting records, immediately imitated this morning by Tokyo. Donald Trump has abandoned his hawkish role and preaches moderation, also because the Democrats intend to put the request to limit the president's freedom of military action to the vote today. Meanwhile, Tehran seems to want to give up further reprisals. In short, we can go back to talking about business pending the signing of the agreement on duties with Beijing.
All on Asian markets this morning. the Tokyo Stock Exchange shines, with a 2% gain in the Nikkei. The Shanghai Composite rose 0,5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1%, Seoul's Kospi 1,2%, Sydney's S&P ASX200 0,7%.
Safe-haven assets are holding back: the yen drops to 109,25 against the dollar, the yuan is at a five-month high at 6,9823 against the US currency. The yield on t Bonds rose to 1,8598% (against 1,705% on the previous day).
Gold also lost ground: after having crossed the 1.600 dollar an ounce level, gold reversed course and closed down by 1% at 1.555 dollars.
Euro slightly appreciated to 1,111 against the dollar, after two consecutive days of decline.
The American Stock Exchanges were positive but below the highs of the day, which did not prevent the Nasdaq from setting a new absolute record at 9.129. Dow Jones +0,56%, S&P 500 +0,49%.
Brent oil closed down 4% at 65,4 dollars a barrel: this morning there is a modest rebound to 66 dollars (+0,7%).
EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS COME BACK
The great fear vanished in Europe before noon. The Stock Exchanges of the Old Continent, hitherto in negative territory, took courage while, in parallel, safe-haven assets and oil prices deflated: -2% to 66,80 dollars. Eni slows down (-0,5%). Saipem +1%.
The turnaround came when signals from Wall Street futures confirmed that Tehran's missiles had been interpreted in Washington as an inevitable retaliation rather than a signal of a military escalation.
BREXIT 2 STARTS ON MEGXIT DAY
Instead, the new round of negotiations between London and Brussels began in a tense atmosphere. Ursula von det Leyen, on her trip to London, warned Boris Johnson that "unless we arrive at a common ground of rules on the environment, labor laws, taxes and state aid, London will not have equal access to the most important single market of the planet". But the game has just begun. English public opinion is more shaken by Megxit, i.e. the decision of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to renounce the prerogatives of the Royal House (including the prerogative) and to move out of the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, at the eurozone level, economic sentiment stood at 101,5 in December from 101,2 in November, driven by optimism in Italy and Spain.
Milan, down by almost one percentage point in the morning, ended the day with an increase of 0,46%.
Money on Frankfurt, which records an increase of 0,71%; London is stable, reporting a moderate +0,01%; small step forward for Paris, which shows a progress of 0,31%.
GHOSN: THE FCA/RENAULT AGREEMENT WAS ALREADY DONE
It has not lived up to expectations Carlos Ghosn's press conference in Beirut. The former number one of Renault did not provide details on his escape (in which he was assisted by a former Green Beret already protagonist of other reckless operations in the Middle East): however, he revealed that the FCA-Renault operation was now "almost made” at the time of his arrest of him. In Milan, Fiat Chrysler fell by 1,3%.
RAIN OF BONDS IN THE EUROZONE, BTPs are holding back
The bond markets lose ground, both due to the stability of risk appetite and, above all, due to the plentiful supply of paper after the holiday break.
The 1,41-year BTP rate settled in the 1,39% area, after closing at XNUMX% the previous session.
The spread closes at 167 basis points, unchanged compared to the day before, when the "roll" (ie the arrival of a new benchmark) of the Italian stock took place.
Germany yesterday placed over 3,5 billion euros of the new 10-year Bund, with an average rate rising to -0,25% from -0,33%.
The honeymoon with the bonds of the periphery continues: Greece has assigned 488 million in 13-week government bonds with a rate decreasing to -0,08%.
Orders for the new 24-year project launched by Portugal through a syndicate for 4 billion exceed XNUMX billion euros.
Ireland too placed a new fifteen-year deal through a syndicate, again for 4 billion, with orders over 20 billion.
AIR OF AGREEMENT, ATLANTIA TAKES FLIGHT
Leading the sudden (and surprising, given the geopolitical tensions) leap in Piazza Affari was Atlantia, the stock most sacrificed due to the risk of revocation of the concession. The surge (+3,9%) is linked to the hope that the maxi investment plan promised for Autostrade per l'Italia has produced good results.
LEONARDO IN THE RALLY, TIM UNDER PRESSURE
However, Leonardo took care of bearing witness to the weight of the winds of war: the defense holding company achieved an increase of 2,99%. Since the beginning of the year, growth has been 8,5%.
The most negative note concerns Telecom Italia, which drops 2,9% in the fourth negative session in a row. The investigation into bribes paid in Brazil (between 2002 and 2006) weighs heavily, even more so is the uncertainty regarding the creation of the single network with Open Fiber.
Enel is on the rise (+0,55%) on which Socgen analysts have raised the target price to 8,1 euros. Moncler +2,21% after Bernstein revised the target price to 45 euros.
VOLA AZIMUT, A NEW BOND FOR UNICREDIT
Fly Azimuth (+2,2%). Among the banks, Unicredit +1%. Abu Dhabi's Mubadala sovereign wealth fund more than halved its stake to 2,020% as of December 20, from 4,986% on June 28. The group has initiated the placement of a 2-year Tier12 bond in euro, 'callable' as of January 15, 2027.
MEDIOLANUM EXTENSION: EXTRA COUPON COMING SOON
Worth noting is Banca Mediolanum (+2,5%) after the publication of data on December funding: 810 million euro and the confirmation of an extraordinary dividend. In fact, CEO Massimo Doris said that “we will close 2019 with a very important net result. For this reason – also in light of the fact that in recent years we have paid our shareholders €0,4/share – we intend to increase the group's history of dividends”.
AMPLIFON SHOPPING IN AUSTRALIA
The shopping continues for Amplifon, which this morning announced the purchase of Attune Hearing Pty Ltd, the largest independent operator of audiology services in Australia, with an outlay of around 35 million euros.
