Negative ending for Piazza Affari, which reversed course in the afternoon together with the other European stock exchanges, in the wake of the worsening of Wall Street. The Ftse Mib closes trading down by 0.7% 30,249 points.
Iveco bucked the trend, up 5.9% and at its highest level since August, after Goldman Sachs reiterated its purchase recommendation ahead of the Capital Markets Day in March. Money also on Pirelli (+2.8%) and Brunello Cucinelli (+2.2%), while Mps (-4.5%), Azimut (-2.9%) and A2a (-2.9%) lose ground ).
Wall Street fell after starting above parity on the day of key inflation data. Consumer prices showed an acceleration in December to 3.4% per year, against the 3.2% expected by the market. The core index slowed, from 4% to 3.9%, but less than estimates (3.8%).
Furthermore, applications for unemployment benefits (202 thousand) were lower than expected, another sign of strength in the labor market after last week’s nonfarm payrolls.
Data which, overall, takes away pressure on the Fed to lower rates and reduces the possibility of a 25 bp cut as early as March, even if the markets continue to price in 5-6 reductions during 2024.
Tomorrow the numbers on producer prices will also be released, while the Wall Street quarterly season will come into full swing with the accounts of the banking giants JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BlackRock and Citigroup.
The ECB’s economic bulletin was published during the day, while in Italy industrial production fell by 1.5% in November.
On bonds, the BTP-Bund spread marked a contraction to 157 basis points, with the yield on the Italian ten-year bond at 3.81% and that of the Bund at 2.24%. 10-year Treasuries at 4.04%, ahead of tonight’s 30-year bond auction ($21 billion).
Among raw materials, Brent oil is approaching 79 dollars a barrel, after the seizure of an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. On Forex, euro/dollar fell to 1.094 and dollar/yen above 146, with the greenback strengthening.
Finally, Bitcoin rose to $45,900, but below the highs of the day, following the SEC’s green light for the first cryptocurrency ETF.