A slow day for European stock markets, awaiting tomorrow’s appointments. At Piazza Affari, the Ftse Mib ends substantially unchanged (-0.03%) at 34,750 points, with Saipem (+3.1%), Brunello Cucinelli (+2.5%) and Unicredit (+2.2%) in lead, while Iveco Group (-2.1%) and Stellantis (-1.3%) lose ground.
From the macroeconomic agenda came the revision of the US annualized GDP for the fourth quarter of 2023, which shows growth of 3.4% compared to the 3.2% of the previous estimate. Weekly requests for unemployment benefits remained at low values, at 210 thousand, while the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index rose from 76.5 to 79.4 points, with inflation expectations falling to 2 .9% for the next 12 months and 2.8% in 5-10 years.
On the Old Continent, Germany’s retail sales fell for the fourth consecutive month in February and the UK’s GDP confirmed recession in the second half of 2023.
The spotlight is on the release of the core PCE and on the speech by Jerome Powell, president of the Federal Reserve, both scheduled for tomorrow, when European markets and Wall Street will be closed for holidays. Meanwhile, FOMC member Christopher Waller gave a moderately hawkish speech, reinforcing the idea that the US central bank is in no rush to cut rates. Meanwhile, S&P confirmed the American sovereign rating at AA+ with a stable outlook.
On bonds, the BTP-Bund spread widened to around 137 basis points, with the yield on the Italian ten-year bond at 3.66% and that of the Bund at 2.29%.
Among raw materials, Brent oil returns above 86 dollars a barrel. On Forex, the euro/dollar exchange rate fluctuates around 1.08 and the dollar/yen remains in the 151.3 area.