Volatile markets in Europe: after a positive day, the minus sign returns to many markets on the continent, starting with Milan, the worst, which closes with -0,95%, Madrid, -0,8%, Zurich -0,6% . Frankfurt, London and Paris are equal or slightly above. Tower Athens: +0.56%. Wall Street starts negative and after the first few minutes of trading the Dow Jones drops 50 points, 0,27%, to 18.278. The S&P 500 dropped 7 points, 0,33%, to 2.156. The Nasdaq fell 14 points, 0,26%, to 5.314.
In fact, the oil effect has deflated, which yesterday supported the lists with a leap of 3%, while today it is falling back by 0,35%, returning to 53,57 dollars a barrel. The first of the “corporate” quarterly reports expected in New York also disappoints. Alcoa, the aluminum giant, lost 6% in the pre-market after submitting lower-than-expected accounts: profits of 166 million dollars, 33 cents a share, against 44 million, 6 cents a share, in the same period of the Last year. Excluding special items, the company posted profits of 32 cents a share, less than the 35 cents expected by analysts. Turnover fell by 6% from 5,57 to 5,21 billion, while estimates were for 5,31 billion.
In the meantime, the conviction of a rate hike by the end of December by the Federal Reserve is strengthening, and tomorrow it will publish the minutes of its September meeting. In the wake of this belief, the dollar rose to an 11-week high and in mid-afternoon the US currency gained 0,3% on the basket of the six main currency counterparts. The euro loses 0,57% and is traded at 1,107. The pound is also still declining, losing 0,85% in the morning, approaching -6% since Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her plans for a 'hard Brexit' and 19% since the day of the referendum ( 23 June) in favor of leaving the EU. A decline that benefits British multinationals which invoice mainly abroad and which brings the FTSE-100 index up.
I'm in Piazza Affari especially the oil companies are under pressure: towards the closure Tenaris scores -3,16%, Eni -1,91%. A little better Saipem -0,22%, due to the role it could play in Turkish Stream, after the agreement signed yesterday in Istanbul by Vladimir Putin and Tayyp Erdogan.
Banca Popolare dell'Emilia-Romagna stands out among the best stocks of the day which, less than an hour after the closing, totals a rise of 6,05%. Contrast Banca Popolare di Milano -0,65% and Banco Popolare +0,59%, in view of Saturday's shareholders' meetings. Unchanged Mps.
The luxury sector benefits from the excellent performance of Lvmh, which closed the third quarter with sales of 9,138 billion, up 6,5% (in the nine months turnover was 26,3 billion, +4%). In the Ftse Mib Salvatore Ferragamo gains 2,12%, Luxottica 0,86%, Moncler 1,05%.
In Asia the negative protagonist of the day is Samsung Electronics, which loses up to 8% on the Seoul market after announcing it stop the production and sale of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, also discouraging its use. A decision that benefits Apple, whose stock is up 2,14% today, and the other competitors.
In the States, Twitter raises its head after yesterday's beating: apparently Salesforce hasn't completely withdrawn, but is still negotiating a potential purchase of the Californian group. Among other news to report: in October, the confidence index of analysts and investors on the prospects of the Italian economy improved.
This is what emerges from an economic survey by the German research institute Zew: the Italian index passes to +0,5 from -0,5 in September. In the Eurozone the index reaches +12,3 from +5,4. On the other hand, bad debts of banks continue to grow in Italy, but a little less: the growth rate in August drops to +0,1% from +0,3%. After the increase in crude oil prices, the five-year forward breakeven index, which indicates the market's inflation expectations and is one of the parameters followed by the European Central Bank, also rises again, +1,385%.
In the meantime, progress is being made at European level on a tax on financial transactions: “We're practically at the end – says Minister Pier Carlo Padoan -. We have made important progress by giving a mandate to the Commission to prepare a draft of legislation which we hope will translate into a launch of the measure soon even if not everything has been resolved".
On the US front, Morgan Stanley, in a letter to investors, suggests shares in the industrial sector, in view of an increase in defense spending in 2017, whoever will be the new tenant of the White House.
