Goldman Sachs presented results exceeding analysts’ expectations: net profit for the first three months of the year was 4.1 billion dollars, up compared to 3.2 billion dollars the previous year and almost 1 billion dollars more than analysts forecast.
In March, US retail sales rose by 0.7% above expectations, while bets continue on the timing of a first rate cut, which for the Fed now seems to be postponed until after the summer.
Higher-than-expected U.S. retail sales show the economy is still hot, “with various measures of core spending rising by the most in a year or more, despite strong upward revisions,” analysts say Wells Fargo’s Tim Quinlan and Shannon Grein in a report. The data contributed to putting pressure on US government bonds: the ten-year bond is at 4.63%, at a five-month high.
Prysmian jumps in Milan, oil sector down
On Piazza Affari, Prysmian is under the spotlight, among the best on the list after the news that the company has decided to buy Encore Wire, putting 290 dollars per share on the table, a price that values the American company at around 3.9 billion euros. Leonardo also did well – Finmeccanica, with Citigroup raised the target price to 28.6 euros, from 16.8 euros and in the wake of the escalation in the Middle East. Saipem is on the swing thanks to the news of the authorization to proceed with the execution of the Whiptail project in Guyana, only to then go into the red with crude oil sales. The banks raise their heads again with Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco Bpm and Banca Pop Sondr. On the opposite front, sales on Telecom Italia and on stocks in the oil sector, which is affected by the weakness of oil: Eni, Terna and Tenaris are among the worst on the list.
BTp, 10-year yield returns above 3.80%
The spread between BTp and Bund closed on the rise in a context of a general increase in yields on the euro curve after the latest data on retail sales in the USA. The result beyond expectations in March, operators judge, suggests that the Fed could postpone the start of the US rate cut, already made less concrete by the inflation data. At the end of the session, the yield differential between the benchmark ten-year BTp (Isin IT0005560948) and the German Bund stood at 140 basis points from the 137 basis points of the last reference. The increase in the yield of the benchmark ten-year BTp was more clear, ending the session at 3.83% from the 3.73% of the reference last Friday.
Euro weak, oil down below 85 dollars in NY
On the currency market, the weakness of the euro continued, standing at around 1.06 dollars. Gold fell slightly to 1366 dollars an ounce. Oil is falling, with WTI below 85 dollars a barrel and Brent below 90 dollars: in recent weeks the price of crude oil has been influenced by the fear of impacts on the availability of raw materials linked to Tehran’s expected response to the bombing of its embassy in Damascus which took place on 1 April. Natural gas in Amsterdam has moved little, remaining above 31 euros per megawatt hour.
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