European stock markets are mostly positive, while Wall Street shows little movement after the new records, with the S&P 500 just a whisker away from 5,000 points. On Piazza Affari, the Ftse Mib ended up 0.3% at 31,064 points, with a focus mainly on the quarterly reports.
STM in the spotlight (+3.5%), thanks also to the above-expected accounts and forecasts of Arm Holdings. Brunello Cucinelli also did well (+3.5%), at historic highs, while Banca Generali fell behind (-2.5%) after the results. Banco Bpm and Banca Mediolanum were among the boards of directors today for the approval of the quarterly reports.
A day lacking in macroeconomic insights, with only the data on requests for unemployment benefits in the US, which decreased for the first time in three weeks. Meanwhile, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin reiterated that policymakers will be patient with rate cuts.
As for the ECB, chief economist Lane signaled that more evidence of a decline in inflation will be needed to proceed with the reduction of financing costs. The ECB’s economic bulletin was also released today.
On bonds, the BTP-Bund spread continues to move in a narrow range, settling at 157 bp, with the yield on the Italian 10-year bond increasing to 3.93% and that of the Bund at 2.35%, while the 10-year US Treasury they rise to 4.16%.
Among raw materials, Brent oil exceeded 81 dollars a barrel after three days of increases, while on the Forex the euro/dollar exchange rate stabilized at 1.076 and the dollar/yen rose to 149.