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(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – The main European markets remain positive but the gains compared to the start are limited. The focus is on the intervention of the ECB president Christine Lagarde, who confirmed a new rate hike in July to fight inflation. The price lists thus shrug off the prudence of the eve, linked to the internal crisis in Russia, the implications of which on the conflict in Ukraine are still to be assessed. The best market is the Milan Stock Exchange (FTSE MIB) followed by Paris (CAC 40), Frankfurt (DAX 30) and London. Investors’ eyes are focused on the village of Sintra in Portugal, where the ECB Forum continues from which the market awaits indications regarding the future monetary policy choices of the Eurostower against inflation (while on Wednesday 28 June it will be the turn of Jerome Powell of the Fed).
In the meantime, positive signals from Asian markets thanks to China on track to achieve the growth target for this year of around 5%, while attention remains high on the news coming from Moscow, where Russian President Vladimir Putin on TV he reassured the nation that the danger had escaped (and it is not clear what Prigozhin’s future will be).
On the macro front, a batch of data from the US, from orders and durable goods, through the house price index, residential property sales and consumer confidence.
Saipem runs in Milan, eyes on Ferretti
In Piazza Affari, Saipem shines right from the start, leading the Ftse Mib index after announcing two new offshore drilling contracts worth a total of approximately 550 million dollars. The main banking stocks, such as Unicredit, Banco Bpm and Banca Pop Er are gaining ground. Basically you make on Stmicroelectronics. The wait is over for the debut of Ferretti which, after an initial flare above 4%, has settled down. Well done Safilo Group which continues negotiations with Lvmh for the Longarone factory.
Euro/dollar in the 1.09 area, oil and gas are up
On the foreign exchange market, the euro confirmed its level at 1.09 dollars and changed hands at 1.0930 (from 1.0913 at yesterday’s close). The single currency is also worth 156.79 yen (156.58 yen), while the dollar/yen exchange rate is 143.44 (143.48). The rise in oil continues: the August future on the Wti rises by 0.7% to 69.9 dollars a barrel, while the same delivery on Brent gains 0.7% to 74.6 dollars. Finally, the price of natural gas in Amsterdam also rose to 32.4 euros per megawatt hour (+1.3 percent).