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(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – Piazza Affari ends the week with a rise of 1.6% despite the disappointment over US inflation (CPI indices on Tuesday and PPI on Thursday) which raised its head slightly in February. The pink jersey of the Old Continent, however, is the IBEX 35 of Madrid, which in the eighth gained 2.8% thanks to the gains of Inditex (Zara) in the wake of the accounts. The CAC 40 of Paris follows (+1.7%), while the FT-SE 100 London (+0.9%) and the DAX 40 Frankfurt (+0.7%) remain further behind. The only negative list is the Amsterdam AEX (-1.2%), which suffers from the slowdown in technology stocks, in the wake of Wall Street’s Nasdaq.
Among the sectors, the best is that of retail sales (+4.7%), with several giants such as Zalando and Inditex having shown their results in recent days. Banks also increased (+2.6%), supported by the caution of central banks on interest rates as well as the usual speculative appeal, and raw materials (+1.6%). Telecommunications are at parity, despite the excitement over the agreement between Vodafone and Swisscom. Down in technology (-3%) and real estate (-3.1%), with the slides of several stocks in Germany in the last week. Looking in more detail at the stock market, Iveco Group is at the top of the Ftse Mib in the eighth place (+9.4%), after the increases following the plan to 2028. Saipem is also positive (+5.3%) and banking, with Banca Mps (+8.3%), Unicredit (+6.9%) – which is also among the best in the Euro Stoxx 50 – and Bper (+5.8%). The worst performances in the eighth were instead of Erg (-5.8%) and Diasorin (-5.4%), after the reductions following the accounts. Nexi (-4.8%), Stmicroelectronics (-4.7%) and Brunello Cucinelli (-4.7%) also did badly after Friday’s debacle.
Closing in no particular order on Friday, focus on banks and TLCs
As regards, in more detail, Friday’s session, the European stock markets closed in no particular order, avoiding the risks of the so-called day of the three witches: on Wall Street, futures on indices, options on indices and options on indices expire at the same time. shares and this usually generates volatility on the markets. Meanwhile, analysts who are keeping their guard up about the next monetary policy moves are still confident about a rate cut in June, despite higher-than-expected US inflation data. Bofa’s CEO, Brian T. Moynihan, was also positive and, in an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore, said that «the ECB and the Fed could start cutting rates at the same time, in June this year, and proceed with the same pace throughout 2024, the ECB’s cutting cycle will end up being much faster than in the United States.”
Wall Street down, Nvidia’s rally stops
On Wall Street the Dow Jones closes down 0.49% at 38,714.77 points. The S&P 500 retreats by 0.65% to 5,117.09 points while the Nasdaq loses 0.96% to 15,973.17 points, with growing concerns about inflation and the pause in Nvidia’s rally, which affects many other stocks technological. The Day of the Three Witches could also bring greater volatility. As for the hypotheses of a rate cut of 25 basis points, the majority of analysts are betting on June although – according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool – the percentage has decreased somewhat compared to 57% a week ago. All the main indices are down, the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. On the stock market, Nvidia’s stock is 100 dollars away from the recently recorded record of 974 dollars. Adobe also lost ground after the software company provided weak guidance. On the other hand, the shares of Rivian Automotive rose, after Piper Sandler raised its rating and price target, as did the semiconductor company Micron Technology, after Citi included it among the stocks to buy, then raising the price target from 95 to 150 dollars thanks to the boost of artificial intelligence.
MPS shines in Piazza Affari, Cucinelli down
In Piazza Affari, a topic that is heating up banking sector stocks is that of possible M&A operations. In this context, Banca Mps finished at the top of the rising Ftse Mib. Purchases also on Unicredit (+2.2%), Banca Generali (1.9%) and Banca Mediolanum (1.99%), followed by Banca Pop Er. Realizzi on Brunello Cucinelli, the day after the presentation of the accounts, after the increases of the last sessions. Moncler also did poorly on a negative day for European luxury, with losses also for LVMH in Paris. Profit-taking on Leonardo – Finmeccanica, after the good performances of the last few sessions, following the presentation of the plan on Tuesday, and on Iveco Group, following the industrial plan to 2028 which made the stock soar by more than ten points. Finally, all eyes are on the European telecommunications sector, therefore on Telecom Italia in Milan, after the acquisition of Vodafone by Swisscom for 8 billion euros, with the aim of integrating it with Fastweb (Swisscom’s affiliate in Italy).