Final octave in decisive trouble for the European Stock Exchanges, with Piazza Affari bringing up the rear together with Madrid with the worsening of the Covid emergency that feeds fears of an economic slowdown. The fourth wave of the epidemic is gaining momentum in many countries. Austria has announced that it will enter national lockdown from next Monday (also introducing mandatory vaccination from next February) and Germany could consider a similar move considering the record peak of daily infections. New blocks that inevitably risk acting as a brake on economic growth in the last part of 2021.
On the central banks front, ECB number one Christine Lagarde reiterated the wait-and-see position on the interest rate front. “Don’t be in a hurry on premature monetary tightening,” said Lagarde, who in recent weeks had ruled out the possibility of a rate hike as early as 2022.
Milan down by more than 1%, KO banks and oil
In Piazza Affari, the Ftse Mib index closed at 27,347 points (-1.17%) after losing almost 2% in the area of 21,163 points.
The banks, which are the sector most sensitive to a slowdown in the economic situation, are very bad. Unicredit has managed to sell 5% and then close at -4.14% at 10.968 euros. Over -3% for Intesa Sanpaolo and -2.7% Bper. Among the big companies, Stellantis sells 2.5%. On the other hand, Telecom Italia (+ 3.65%), Ferrari (+ 2.2% to 239.7 euros, new all-time highs) and Recordati (+ 2.69%) are countercurrent. Diasorin also did well (+ 2.38%) which is the title that potentially benefits most from the new wave of Covid infections.
ENI does not take advantage of Barclays assists, TIM and Ferrari do well
Closing in the red also for ENI (-2.11% to 12.168 euros) which had started at over + 2% in the wake of the double upgrade decided by Barclays with judgment passed to overweight from the previous underweight with target price raised to 16 euros. According to UK-based company ENI, it has become a leading energy transition company and is set to deliver “competitive returns” to investors.
In general, the oil sector pays the turnaround today for oil with Brent down 3% below $ 80 a barrel thanks to the new surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe which threatens to slow down the economic recovery.
Finally, a sharp decline of 3.49% for Leonardo who received coldly the rumor reported by Bloomberg about the possible government plan to unite Leonardo and Fincantieri. The two groups are also at the center of attention in the wake of rumors that Fincantieri is at the top of the list of potential buyers of the former Oto Melara, Leonardo’s key brand in the defense systems sector.