Positive closing for European stock markets on the day of the ECB meeting. On Piazza Affari, the Ftse Mib closed trading up by 0.2% to 33,418 points, held back by the collapse of Telecom Italia (-23.8%) after the accounts and the plan, with investors worried about the debt. Azimut was also heavy (-5.9%) after the financial results and on February collections. Amplifon, on the other hand, is in the spotlight (+5.9%) following the quarterly report and the margin forecasts for 2024, as well as Stm (+3.5%).
The ECB left interest rates unchanged for the fourth consecutive meeting and cut growth and inflation estimates, forecasting 2% as early as 2025. In the conference at the end of the meeting, President Lagarde reiterated that more evidence of price drop to cut rates, stating that the Governing Council will know much more in June. Traders increased bets on monetary easing, fully pricing in four 25bp reductions over the course of the year.
Now attention shifts to the US jobs report, due out tomorrow, which forecasts nonfarm payrolls at 200,000 units and a stable unemployment rate of 3.7%. Meanwhile, US jobless claims have remained at historically low levels, signaling a still resilient job market.
On bonds, the BTP-Bund spread fell to 130 basis points, with the yield on the Italian 10-year bond falling to 3.6% and that of the Bund to 2.3%. Among raw materials, Brent oil depreciated to 82.5 dollars per barrel, while gold stood at 2,155 dollars an ounce, after having reached a new historic high above 2,160 dollars.
On Forex, the euro/dollar exchange rate rose above 1.09 and the dollar/yen fell to 148 yen per dollar, with the Japanese currency strengthening thanks to speculation on a possible rate increase by the Bank of Japan as early as March .
Meanwhile, Bitcoin exceeds $67,300, returning close to the all-time high updated in recent days.