More taxes, no rate surprises. The hearings of Janet Yellen, the US Treasury minister, and of the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, served to confirm the US administration's lines of action. The recovery, the two said, has started but, Yellen stressed, "there are 22 million Americans who say they don't have enough food to eat". Hence the prospect of enormous investments (two and a half times the Italian GDP if all promises are respected), but also, after decades of cuts, a first increase in the tax burden. A picture which the Stock Exchanges, focused on the challenge of the pandemic that is putting Europe to the test, are watching with great caution.
ASIA IN SHARP DOWN. TOYOTA “ALLOY” ISUZU
Tokyo's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lose about 2%. CSI 300 of the Shanghai and Shenzen price lists -1,5%. Mumbai BSE Sensex -1,3%.
Toyota and Isuzu have announced a new share swap. The two companies will collaborate in the field of autonomous driving in Hino, controlled by Toyota.
Tonight the authorities of Hong Kong and Macao announced a stop to the use of the BioNtech vaccine, following a defect in the bottle closure system reported by the local supplier Shanghai Fosun.
In the US, Nasdaq futures are up 0,3%, from -1,1% at yesterday evening's close. Down also the Dow Jones (-0,94%) and the S&P 500 (-0,78%).
INTEL (+7%) PLAYS THE CHARGING OF THE CHIPS
Intel flies (+7%), after the chip giant announced a radical change of strategy to deal with the growing dependence on Asian suppliers. The company will invest $20 billion in the construction of two large new plants in Arizona.
Ten-year yields are slowing down on the eve of another round of auctions. Attention is being paid to the offer of seven-year bonds, after the difficulties encountered last month.
The dollar rose again, to 1,8355 against the euro, weighed down by the European closures.
THE WTI DROP TO 57 DOLLARS. TRAFFIC FROM HIGHWAY TO SUEZ
The strength of the US currency, together with the slowdown in the European recovery, is one of the reasons for the oil price crisis. WTI trades at $57 a barrel, below the average price over the past 50 days. Texas crude closed 6% down yesterday.
To complicate the picture was added a spectacular accident at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal. A giant container ship, longer than the Empire State Building is tall, ran aground blocking passage in both directions. There are already dozens of tankers in line.
European futures moved little: this morning, the confusion about vaccines and the improvement in the health situation less rapidly than expected are holding back initiatives.
GERMANY AND UK CLOSE, USA STOP FOR ASTRAZENECA
Germany's decision to extend the "strengthened" lockdown until Easter (five days locked up at home, suggests Angela Merkel) has placed a new heavy mortgage on the timing of the recovery of the Old Continent's economy. But the real cold shower, yet another, has arrived on the front of the AstraZeneca vaccine (-2,5%): on Monday the US Food and Drug Administration authorized it, but yesterday the US federal health authorities expressed uncertainty about the results of the clinical trial, in which "obsolete information" (ie prior to the variants of the virus) may have been included, distorting the effective effectiveness of the vaccine, once again postponed for examinations.
THE DOLLAR RUNS, THE EURO FLAPS
Against this backdrop, the European markets are slipping from their recent highs, while the strong dollar (+0,5% against the euro, at 1,186) weighs on oil and energy stocks: the hope of a rapid recovery is increasingly feeble.
PIAZZA AFFARI (-0,61%): GO-LIGHT FOR DEL VECCHIO ON GRANDVISION
Piazza Affari falls by 0,61%, to 24.113 points. The other price lists are in no particular order. Frankfurt appreciates by 0,15%, but Paris loses 0,4%. The European Commission has authorized the acquisition of GrandVision by EssilorLuxottica for 7,2 billion, subject to the sale of around 350 points of sale in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.
London is also in the red (-0,41%). Travel-related stocks are down sharply: they slide with British Airways parent IAG and Easyjet, all down more than 4%. Britain banned British travel abroad from Monday until at least June. Violators risk a £XNUMX fine.
VOLVO (-6,7%) LAUNCHES THE CHIP ALARM
Sweden's Volvo fell 6,74% after announcing that semiconductor shortages could significantly impact production in the second quarter.
DEBUT OF SHORT-TERM BTPs, BOOMING DEMAND FOR EU BONDS
Bond market in green: the spread between Italian and German ten-year bonds drops to 94 basis points (-2,19%) and the BTP rate closes at +0,6%. On 26 March, the Treasury will offer 6 billion 6-month BOTs against 6,5 billion maturing.
In the meantime, the short-term BTP will make its debut tomorrow. "With the introduction of these new instruments - reads a note - the MEF intends to contribute to making the short-term sector of government bonds more efficient and liquid, as well as to achieve further margins of flexibility for the management of the of the deadlines for the next few years”.
In a session rich in terms of supply on the corporate front, the EU launched a 5 billion 25-year and 13-year dual-tranche bond under the 'Sure' programme, receiving orders for over 81 billion.
THE ANTI-DEAFNESS DRUG IS A FLOP. AMPLIFON TO THE STARS
The pink jersey in Piazza Affari went to Amplifon (+5,04%), in a rally after the flop of the experimentation of the drug against deafness by the American Frequency Therapeutics, a competitor of the Italian company.
FERRRAI NEAR THE TOP, SBANDA STELLANTIS
Problems related to the semiconductor crisis are holding back the automotive sector. Mediobanca Securities analysts have predicted a period of crisis for car manufacturers caused by the scarcity of semiconductors on the market.
Ferrari (+0,23% after the extension on the eve), however, recorded another step forward, approaching again the absolute maximum of February a few days before the start of the Formula One world championship in Bahrain. Stellantis (-3,34%) and Exor (-2,67%) fell sharply.
WEAK BANKS. CREVAL: THE TENDER PRICE IS NOT FAIR
Profit taking penalized Finecobank (-2,77%). In letter the other banks: Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo closed down by 0,73% and 0,41% respectively. Creval lost 0,23%, 11,976 euros per share, compared to the offer price of 10,5 euros which will start on 30 March and will end, unless extended, on 21 April. According to Intesa Sanpaolo analysts, "the current price remains well above the offer price as we believe that the market expects an upward revision of the price by Credit Agricole Italia".
In assets under management Azimut -0,34% after completing the purchase of a minority stake in the American HighPost Capital, a private equity company specializing in investments in the consumer sector based in New York.
OILS DOWN, UTILITIES BOUNCE
Among the oil companies, Saipem, cut by HSBC (hold from buy, target 2,6 from 2,9), is lagging behind by 2,70%. Eni -1,64% and Tenaris -1,69%.
The rotation between sectors instead rewarded the utilities: Hera +2,26%, A2a +2,14%, Italgas +2,44%, Terna +1,61%. Snam (+1,10%), together with a consortium of German pension funds, is among the suitors for Ferngas, a company that owns 2.900 km of gas distribution and 214 km of transmission grid in eastern Germany.
Esprinet is up (+3,49%), after the signing of an agreement with Enel X for the distribution of the group's charging infrastructure.
RECORDATI, TESTS REWARD A NEW DRUG
Among the positive health headlines Recordati (+0,33%) after the phase 3 trials confirmed the efficacy of the drug Isturisa for the treatment of Cushing's disease. Diasorin +0,57%.
On Aim, Neosperience (+11,90%) stands out, which has created a new system to help diagnose Covid-19 infections.
