Positive day for the European stock exchanges and for Piazza Affari, also supported by the upward start of Wall Street. The Ftse Mib achieved a gain of 0.7% reaching 25,546 points. Among the most capitalized companies, Hera (+5.5%), Iveco (+5.2%), Nexi (+3.45%) and A2A (+3.4%) advance above all. On the other hand, Amplifon (-4.25%), Saipem (-3.7%) and the banks Unicredit (-1.5%) and Banco Bpm (-1.3%) are down.
On bonds, the Btp-Bund spread contracted sharply to 182 basis points, at its lowest for around 9 months, with the Italian 10-year yield at 4.04%, after Bloomberg reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz will ask the European Union to create new joint financing instruments to respond to the green subsidies launched by Biden in the United States.
Among currencies, the euro hits its highest level since May with the euro/dollar exchange rate recovering to 1.075. Among raw materials, oil advanced with Brent at 82.6 dollars while natural gas in Europe fell again to 66 euro/MWh. The report on weekly crude inventories in the US showed a sharp increase in reserves.
Expectations are growing for tomorrow’s report on US consumer prices, crucial for the Fed’s next monetary policy decisions. Yesterday, President Jerome Powell stressed that stable inflation is the foundation of an economy in good health. Pursuing this goal, the central banker added, may require institutions to take measures (such as raising rates) that are necessary, but not popular.
US central banker Michelle Bowman reiterated that much work remains to be done to curb inflation, saying further tightening is needed.
Finally, it should be remembered that the new season of American quarterly reports will kick off on Friday with the accounts of the banking giants Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.