Positive day for European stock markets, also supported by the positive performance of Wall Street in the first hours of trading. On Piazza Affari, the Ftse Mib ended with an increase of 0.87% at 30,338.35 points, with purchases on Mps (+5%) and Hera (+3.1%), the latter on the day of the new industrial plan. Telecom Italia (-1.9%) and Campari (-1.9%) are down.
Eurozone PMI indices were released during the day, underlining a new contraction in economic activity, led by France and Germany. The eurozone manufacturing PMI stood at 46.6 points, above the 44.7 expected by analysts and the 44.4 of the previous month. Services, however, recorded an unexpected worsening, with the related index decreasing from 48.8 to 48.4 points (consensus 49).
The round of quarterly accounts continues on Wall Street, with a focus on the technology sector. Netflix is flying (+11%) after last night announcing subscriber numbers well above forecasts. While it missed earnings expectations, the streaming giant beat consensus in terms of revenue. Tonight Tesla will publish its fourth quarter accounts while tomorrow it will be Intel’s turn. It should be noted that Microsoft (+1%) has reached 3 trillion market cap. Tomorrow the roundup of quarterly results will also start on Piazza Affari with the STM accounts expected before the opening.
The key event is expected for tomorrow with the ECB’s monetary policy meeting, which is not expected to make any changes to interest rates. On the macro front, the main data will be the preliminary reading of US GDP for the fourth quarter of 2023 (tomorrow) and the PCE deflator (Friday), the Fed’s preferred inflation measure.
On bonds, the BTP-Bund spread widened to 155 basis points, with the yield on the Italian 10-year bond rising to 3.86% and that of the Bund to 2.30%, while the 10-year US Treasury stood at 4.14 %.
Among raw materials, Brent oil remains around 80 dollars a barrel, with a focus on the ongoing tensions in the Middle East and sharply declining US crude oil inventories.
On Forex, the euro/dollar exchange rate appreciates to 1.09 while the dollar/yen loses ground to 147.38.