by Verità&Affari editorial team
Positive tone for Piazza Affari in the last session of the week. The Milan Stock Exchange opens up by 0.5%. Paris (0.61%), London (0.35%) and Frankfurt (+0.36%) also performed well. The European stock markets benefit from the positive session on Wall Street where the quarterly reports hold sway. There is also attention to macro data awaiting central bank decisions on interest rates. The restrictive policy in fact risks having a negative impact on the economy with damage not only to businesses, but also to public coffers.
In the Far East, the slowdown in inflation in Japan in December (2.3%) which should lead the Bank of Japan to confirm its accommodative policy on rates. Meanwhile, the sharp decline in retail sales in the United Kingdom in December (-3.2% compared to November) which will have to be taken into consideration by the Bank of England even if inflation rebounded in December.
In Piazza Affari the focus is on the privatizations being studied by the Italian government and in particular on the possibility that the Ministry of Finance could sell a 4% stake in Eni in the spring. Banking risk is also back in the news, in addition to the Tim and Rai Way dossiers.
CURRENCIES
On the currency market, the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar remains below 1.09 (1.0879 from 1.0863 yesterday evening). The British pound retreated slightly below $1.27 following the retail sales data.
ENERGY
Oil prices stable at 79 dollars a barrel for the March Brent contract and at 74 for the February WTI. Rebound for gas (+3%) traded at 28.8 euros per megawatt hour in Amsterdam