Another positive day for Piazza Affari and the European stock exchanges, with the Ftse Mib in Milan closing up 1.2% at 28,889 points. Purchases in particular on Erg (+2.5%), Stm (+2.1%) and Unicredit (+1.9%) while Nexi loses 0.6%.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 (+1%) and Nasdaq (+1.6%) accelerated higher after today’s macro data. US job vacancies fell more-than-expected to 8.83 million, a low in more than two years, signaling a rebalancing in the market that should ease pricing pressures. In addition, US consumer confidence fell more than expected amid an uncertain economic backdrop and lingering inflation concerns.
The markets are therefore assessing a rate hike by the Fed in September as less likely, pending Friday’s job report. Also to be monitored are Thursday’s data on inflation in the eurozone, to be read from an ECB perspective.
On Forex, the euro/dollar climbs back to 1.085 while the dollar/yen fluctuates around 146. Among the raw materials, oil (Brent) is confirmed above 84 dollars a barrel, while natural gas in Europe is down on 8 % to 35 €/Mwh, after yesterday’s leap, due to weak demand which counterbalances fears about the strikes announced in Australia. Bitcoin jumps (+5%) after Grayscale gets the green light for a cryptocurrency ETF in the US.
On bonds, the Btp-Bund spread contracted to less than 164 bp, with the Italian 10-year bond at 4.14%.