European stock markets closed lower, held back by the performance of Wall Street after some subdued macro data. On Piazza Affari, the Ftse Mib closed down by 0.3% to 33,786 points, with Iveco (+11.4%) in the spotlight after the 2028 plan, Saipem at +4.5% and Telecom Italia (+3.5 %) on the comeback. Eni in the red (-3%) after the presentation of the 2024-27 plan.
US data on producer prices and retail sales underlined the challenges the Fed faces in the final mile of its journey to bring inflation back to its 2% target.
The producer price index signaled an increase in cost pressures (+0.6% monthly and +1.6% on an annual basis, against 0.3% and 1.2% of the consensus). Retail sales showed signs of weakening, with growth of 0.6% versus the estimated 0.8%. Requests for unemployment benefits were lower than expected.
As for central banks, Yannis Stournaras, member of the ECB’s Governing Council, believes that the institution must cut rates twice before the summer break in August and another two times by the end of the year, without letting itself be influenced by the Federal Reserve.
On bonds, the BTP-Bund spread rises to 125 basis points, with the yield on the Italian ten-year bond at 3.67% and that of the Bund at 2.42%, in the wake of the jump in US Treasuries to 4.28%.
Among raw materials, Brent oil rises again to over 85 dollars a barrel, in the aftermath of data on American inventories which highlighted a decline in crude oil and petrol reserves.
On Forex, the euro/dollar exchange rate fell below 1.09 and the dollar/yen above the threshold of 148 yen per dollar.