Closing in the red for Piazza Affari, with the Ftse Mib down by 0.55% to 27,597 points. The Milanese index is held back in particular by sales on Iveco (-2.5%), by the drop in Telecom Italia (-2.7%) and by sales on Unicredit (-2.85%) and Banco Bpm (-2 .5%). The telecommunications giant is affected by the postponement of the offer for the CDP network, an alternative to the one already presented by KKR, pending the weekend board meeting. Saipem (+3.2%) goes against the trend, followed by Stellantis (+1.2%), which will approve the results in two days’ time.
On bonds, the Btp-Bund spread widens to 188 basis points with the Italian ten-year yield rising to 4.33%. On Forex, the euro/dollar exchange rate is just below 1.07, while among raw materials, oil is slightly up, with Brent at 83.5 dollars a barrel, in the wake of the good prospects for Chinese demand.
A cautious day, overall, for European stock markets, in conjunction with the closure of the Wall Street beacon for the Presidents’ Day holiday. Operators are waiting for the Fed’s minutes to be released this week, after the latest macro data and the tones used by some FOMC members who fuel the prospect of a still restrictive monetary policy.
Geopolitical issues remain in the background, after the US and China failed to resolve the differences of recent weeks over the weekend, linked above all to the entry, and consequent downing, of the Chinese balloon in US airspace.
The preliminary PMI indices for February are expected from the macro agenda tomorrow, while the quarterly reports of retail giants such as Walmart and Home Depot could provide useful indications on the resilience of the economy.