Beginning of a difficult week for markets thanks to fears related to the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis. Over the weekend, the risk of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia increased by the hour. Several nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have advised their citizens to leave Ukraine.
Central banks remain in the background, with the Fed expecting a series of rate hikes to counter rising inflation. St. Louis Fed Chairman James Bullard confirmed his hawkish stance today and points to the strict need to tackle inflation with tighter monetary policy. “Our credibility is at stake here and we need to react to the data. However, I think we can do it in an organized and non-market-disruptive way, ”Bullard said in an interview with CNBC today. “I think we need to anticipate the planned removal of stimuli than we would have done previously. We were surprised by the rise in inflation. This is a lot of inflation, ”Bullard warned.
The Ftse Mib, which in the morning had managed to lose 4% (minimum at 25,893 points), recovered in the second half of the session, closing down by 2.04% to 26,415 points. Sales were dodged by Snam (+ 0.83%) and Inwit (+ 1.79%). On the other hand, banks are among the worst with -4.23% Unicredit, -3.11% Intesa Sanpaolo and -3.78% Bper. Banco BPM, on the other hand, held steady (-0.65%) which at the start had managed to score over -7%. Giuseppe Castagna, CEO of Banco BPM, would have had new contacts with the CEO of Credit Agricole Italia in view of a possible business combination, a defensive move in the face of any hostile takeover bid by Unicredit.
Among the other big names in Piazza Affari, Stellantis hurt today at -2.56% at 16.38 euros.