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(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – The European stock markets move at the mercy of the central banks: almost all the main indices end trading in positive territory, albeit far from the brilliant values recorded at the opening in the wake of the announcements of the Fed and the ECB. The Ftse Mib of Milan closes at +0.21% at 30,359 points, discounting the greater exposure to the interest margin of Italian banks, such as the Spanish ones, which today pay the price to what emerged from the ECB meeting.
The Frankfurt institute, as expected, opted to leave interest rates unchanged with a downward revision of inflation estimates for 2023 and above all for 2024, but also announced a halving of the Pepp program in the second half of the year. ‘next year. “The Governing Council remains strictly dependent on the data”, reiterated the president of the institute Christine Lagarde, dashing investors’ hopes on possible cuts in the cost of money which, she explained, “we have not discussed at all”. The impression, in any case, is that the rate ceiling has now been reached.
The verdict comes after the Federal Reserve’s change of gear on the eve of the move, with the widely expected decision to keep interest rates unchanged for the third time in a row, but above all with the opening towards the possibility of making three cuts next year. As expected by analysts, the Bank of England also decided to maintain the reference rate at 5.25%, the highest level in the last 15 years, for the third consecutive meeting. Rates also remained unchanged for the Swiss Central Bank, while the Bank of Norway, for the fourteenth time in more than two years, raised the reference rate by 0.25 points to 4.5%.
Wall Street rises with rate cut on the horizon
Wall Street closes positive, in the aftermath of the record of the Dow Jones following the indications of the Fed. The Dow Jones rises by 0.43% to 37,248.77 points, the Nasdaq advances by 0.19% to 14,761.56 points while the S&P 500 achieved an increase of 0.27% to 4,719.59 points. The US central bank kept interest rates at 5.25%-5.50%, as widely expected, but forecast a cut of 75 basis points in 2024, compared to the 50 points foreseen in the previous estimate in September. In the statement released after the meeting, the Fed said inflation “has slowed” over the past year and now expects it to stand at 2.4% in 2024, down from the 2.6% estimate in September. Further signs of a strengthening economy came from macro data: weekly unemployment benefits fell by 19 thousand units to 202 thousand, below estimates and at their lowest levels since mid-October, while retail sales in November increased by 0, 3% compared to the previous month to 705.7 billion dollars, after -0.2% in October (revised from the initial -0.1%); expectations were for -0.1%. Compared to a year earlier, a +4.1% was recorded. Import prices fell by 0.4%, in this case expectations were for a drop of 0.8%.
Piazza Affari ballasted by bankers, Diasorin stands out
On the stock market in Piazza Affari, purchases on Diasorin on the eve of the presentation of the strategic plan to 2025, which achieved a 10% progress. Excellent performance also for Cnh Industrial which closed at +5.62%, like Tim (+5.42%). In a predominantly positive price list, a heavy session for the banking sector in the wake of the decisions of the Fed and the ECB. Thus Banca Mps gives up 6.04%, Bper Banca 5.89%, Unicredit 4.52% and Banco Bpm 3.81%. Intesa Sanpaolo is also in negative territory (-2.2%).