Closing in fractional increase for Piazza Affari, in a session with little movement and semi-festive contours for the European stock exchanges, while Wall Street continues without a precise direction.
The Ftse Mib ends with a gain of 0.27% to 23,877 points. Purchases above all on Telecom Italia (+2.4%), awaiting developments on the network, Iveco (+2%) and Leonardo (+2.05%), which was awarded a 690 million euro contract by the Department of Canadian National Defense for the modernization and expansion program of the Cormorant helicopter fleet. Sales instead of Ferrari (-0.8%) and Stm (-0.75%).
On bonds, the Btp-Bund spread was slightly moved at 210 basis points, with the yield on the Italian 10-year bond just under 4.5%. In December, Istat data highlighted the second consecutive improvement in consumer confidence (from 98.1 to 102.5) and business confidence (from 106.5 to 107.8).
The euro/dollar exchange rate is slightly above 1.06, while the dollar/yen is back at 132.8. Among raw materials, oil is gaining ground, with WTI at 79.7 dollars and Brent at 84.1 dollars, starting to close the week positively. Russia has said it may cut crude oil output in response to the G7 price cap.
An uncertain trend for the Wall Street indices, in the light of the latest macro data which fuel questions about how long monetary policy will remain restrictive. The core PCE index, a key measure of US inflation, recorded a slowdown to 4.7% on an annual basis, albeit remaining well above the Fed’s target. The University of Michigan’s sentiment index improved.
All this in the aftermath of solid data on GDP in the third quarter, which have strengthened the idea that the US economy can withstand further rate hikes to cool down prices.
As for the ECB, the president Christine Lagarde reiterated today that the institute will do “everything possible to reduce inflation. We are raising interest rates and will raise them further, at a steady pace, until they are at a level that ensures a rapid return of inflation to our medium-term target of 2%. And we will succeed.”
The coming week will be a week without significant events or data, coinciding with the end-of-year holidays. The only exceptions are the BoJ minutes, data on Spanish inflation and some US regional indices (Dallas, Richmond and Chicago).