Piazza Affari at its highest level for 17 years: the super-rich choose Italy
It was a brief moment. In financial parlance, you might say we hit the highs, but for a moment, Piazza Affari brought a smile to investors hammered by years of sudden collapses, bank failures and global crises. For a brief moment, the main index, the Ftse Mib, yesterday it reached 34,000 points. For information, it was the level reached in 2008, a disastrous year for the markets, marked by the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. It only lasted a moment, of course, as immediately afterwards the index retraced its steps, closing practically at the same starting value, at 33,940 points. This is what was reported by Il Tempo.
Certainly, we are still far from the 42,000 points achieved in 2007, but the signal is loud and clear. The economies of the Northern countries are not shining, but those of the South, including Italy, are now attracting the attention of large international funds, which are raising “made in Italy” risk capital. In a week that could mark the beginning of the end of restrictive monetary policies, with the expected move by the US Fed (for the ECB it is not Traino Milano, but the push is mainly given by the banks, whose rate cut could still trigger a real boom), the markets see opportunities in Italian shares and are buying them, pushing prices up .
Not only. BTP auctions are also experiencing strong demand and the spread, which measures the difference in yield between Italian and German government bonds, continues to narrow. This indicates that even on the secondary market, Italy is considered a safe haven for investors.
The achievement of 34,000 points is “a historic and significant feat that reflects the state of health of the Italian economy and underlines once again the attractiveness of our country and of our main stock market index”, underlined the Minister of Business and of “made in Italy”, Adolfo Urso. Supporting the Milan stock market, as has been the case for some time, are above all banking stocks, favored by the increase in interest rates that the European Central Bank intends to keep high for a while longer. Yesterday, Banco Bpm (+1.83%), Bper (+1.99%) and Popolare di Sondrio (+1.94%) were particularly positive on their debut in the main basket.
However, there is one criticism to be made: the excessive weight of financial stocks in the surge towards new records. But those who know the market well are now confident in cutting rates, not only to bring liquidity back to the markets, but also to relaunch the manufacturing economy, linked above all to medium-sized companies listed on the smaller stock exchanges in Milan. If this happens (and forecasts indicate that it will happen in the second half of 2024), the 34,000 points will only be a starting point.