Sunny day in all Exchanges of Europe for the sector of utility. At Piazza Affari Enel earn more than 5%, while Terna e Italgas jump more than 4%. It's still: A2A, Hera e Snam show increases in the order of 3%. Outside of Italy, the Spanish Endesa and the German He recover more than 6%, while on the Cac of Paris Engie scores +4,5%.
War may delay rate hikes
The reason? The wave of purchases in the utility sector was triggered by the prospect that – in the light of recent developments in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine – the European Central Bank may slow down (if not postpone altogether) the normalization of monetary policy. Which would mean low rates for a longer period of time than expected.
The Nasdaq and utilities
Precisely this hypothesis – the analysts explain – pushed the Nasdaq, the Wall Street index most sensitive to the Fed's moves on rates and the most penalized in recent weeks, up sharply yesterday.
Utilities have always been perceived as a hybrid equity alternative to bonds and therefore the prospect of an increase in yields on the market had weighed heavily on their prices, with the aggravating circumstance in Italy of the decree cutting profits and the competition law.
The price of gas
The increase in gas prices also contributes to the euphoria of the sector, the impact of which, however, depends on the exposures of the individual companies and on the supply contracts.
Draghi's words
In our country, however, the premier Mario Draghi, reporting to Parliament on the Ukrainian crisis, it also opened up the possibility of temporarily reactivating coal-fired plants, which are expected to be completely shut down by 2025. According to Assocarboni data, there are seven plants left in Italy. One in Sardinia, of about 600 MW, belongs to the Czechs of Eph. Another is A2A (two units of a total of 320 MW), while the other five are from Enel.
