The Fed reassures the markets and the European stock exchanges move higher, after the Wall Street record with the Dow Jones which broke the 33 thousand mark. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 updates records while the Euro Stoxx 50 returns to pre-Covid levels of February 2020. Jerome Powell confirmed that monetary policy will remain accommodative and that rates will not be touched until 2023. The banker said that it is not yet time to talk about tapering, although the forecasts for the economy have been substantially revised positively (the 2021 GDP was indicated to rise by 6.5% from the previous 4.2%). In Europe, the EMA’s verdict on the safety of the Astrazeneca vaccine, although, as specified by the European Medicines Agency, it will not be binding on states. However, the knot on the distribution of vaccines remains, with the tension rising between Brussels and the pharmaceutical companies.
In Piazza Affari, banks always in the spotlight
The quarterly season goes on in Piazza Affari. Weak Snam Rete Gas which announced it had closed the 2020 accounts with a net profit of 1.164 billion. The good performance of the banks continues, pending news on the merger and acquisition front and in view of the return to dividend distribution in the third quarter. In particular, Banco Bpm and Banca Pop Er shares rose. Weak and in line at the FTSE MIBanche for this session Diasorin.
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Tokyo closes up on record-breaking Topix index
The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed with a good trend, reassured like Wall Street by the Federal Reserve’s decision to continue supporting the American economy “for as long as necessary”. The Nikkei Index gained 1.01% to 30,216.75 points and the Topix Index gained 1.23% to 2,008.51 points. This is the first time since 1991 that the Topix has crossed the symbolic 2,000 point mark. The Nikkei, for its part, which is already at record levels since 1990, has not exceeded 30,000 points since the end of February.
The euro strengthens and points to $ 1.20 after the Fed
On the exchange front, the euro strengthened against the greenback following Powell’s indications: the single currency approached $ 1.20. The single currency is also worth 130.55 yen (130), while the greenback is worth 108.98 yen (109.3). Oil is weak: the wti, contracted for delivery in April, lost 0.43%, settling at 64.32 dollars a barrel.
The appointments of Thursday 18 March
Various macroeconomic indicators on the agenda. In Italy at 10 am Istat releases data on foreign trade and import prices for January. At 11, the data on the cost of labor in the Eurozone arrives (4th quarter). Then there will be various data from the United States: Philadelphia Fed Index for March (1.30pm), Weekly Unemployment Insurance Claims (2.30pm) and February Anticipating Index (3.00pm).