European stock markets positive after the key appointments of the week with the central bank meetings. In Piazza Affari, the Ftse Mib ends up 1.5% to 27,100 points, with Telecom Italia (+9.5%) on the shields after the non-binding offer of the KKR fund for a stake in the company to be set up in the Netco network .
Steady increases also for Amplifon (+7.8%), Ferrari (+7.3%) and Nexi (+6%). On the other hand, Bper (-2.8%), Tenaris (-3.5%) and Cnh (-7.5%) fell back. The latter published the results of the 4th quarter and announced the delisting from Euronext Milan; will keep the listing only on the Nyse.
Today the ECB, as expected, raised rates by 50 basis points and announced that it intends to tighten again by 0.5% in March, and then evaluate the subsequent monetary policy moves. Rates will be kept at sufficiently restrictive levels to ensure a return of inflation to 2%.
Christine Lagarde stressed that the risks to the growth outlook are more balanced and the inflation outlook more balanced. The economy is more resilient than expected and confidence is picking up, although price pressures remain strong. While retail prices could still rise in the near term, the recent drop in energy prices could curb inflation faster than expected, resulting in softer dynamics for underlying inflation.
The prospect of lower risks and a possible slowdown in interest rate tightening gave wings to bonds, causing the yield on the ten-year BTP to fall by around 40 bp to 3.88%, while the spread with the Bund contracted to 181 bp. The euro/dollar was also down, at 1.092.
The Bank of England also met during the day, increasing the cost of money by 50 basis points, signaling that the pace could slow to 25 basis points in the future. Yesterday, however, the Fed raised rates by 0.25% and chairman Jerome Powell said that there will still be a couple of hikes to counter inflation, opening however to a revision of plans in case price pressures subside reduce quickly. The chairman acknowledged that the US economy is now in a “disinflation” phase, while stressing that more data will be needed to declare victory.
From the macro agenda came the US data on weekly unemployment claims, down to the lowest level since April, while the January job report will be published tomorrow. On the quarterly front, after the Meta accounts which pushed the stock to +24%, the results of Apple, Amazon and Alphabet are expected tonight with the markets closed.