Beginning of the week in deep red for Piazza Affari. The geopolitical tensions in Ukraine add to expectations for this week’s Federal Reserve meeting weighing on the mood of the markets. Goldman Sachs now expects a faster pace of Fed tightening with the possibility of the FOMC taking restrictive action at every meeting starting in March until the inflation picture changes. The flight from risk is also dictated by the geopolitical tensions between the United States and Russia. The New York Times reported that President Joe Biden is considering sending up to 50,000 combat troops to Ukraine.
Overseas, the S&P 500 index extended its sell-off to -10% from record levels and at the same time the volatility indicated by the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, reached its highs almost in the year, touching area 38.
At Piazza Affari the Ftse Mib index closed at 25,972 points (-4.02%), the worst session since last November 26 and with all the index securities in red. The worst of the day are Stellantis at -7.39% below the threshold of 17 euros. Iveco was also very bad at -5.5%. Among the worst also CNH (-6.58%) and Exor (-6.39%).
The violent risk-off of the markets also derails the asset management sector with -5.67% Azimut, -4.44% Banca Mediolanum and -4.19% Banca Generali.
A2A also fell (-2.61 %%) which reached an agreement with Ardian for the acquisition of wind and photovoltaic portfolios for a total of 352 MW. In this way, A2a goes from around 300 MW of current renewables capacity to 650 MW already in 2022.
ENI (-3.2% to 12.68 euros) announced its intention to launch an initial public offer of Vår Energi and to request a listing on Oslo Børs for the company. The operation is part of Eni’s strategy of enhancing its assets in order to free up new resources to be allocated for the acceleration of the energy transition strategy. Eni will continue to hold a majority stake in the company, maintaining the consolidation at equity.