The euphoric start of the year on the markets is confirmed. Both Europe equities (Euro Stoxx 600) and Wall Street update all-time highs today. Piazza Affari is queued and the Ftse Mib, back from + 1.4% on the eve of the day, scores at the end of the day + 0.81% at 27.954 points, taking levels it hasn’t seen since September 2008, after having exceeded 28 thousand points in the intraday.
While the Omicron variant continues to rage – with the record of over a million cases in one day in the United States – optimism prevails among investors in the belief that the boom in infections can only temporarily impact the global recovery. Indeed, in countries where omicron has become dominant, such as South Africa, the wave of infections peaked without overwhelming the health system and this variant could therefore mark the beginning of the end of the pandemic as it favors a faster path to herd immunity with only minor economic harm associated.
Investment banks remain bullish on equities in this first part of 2022. According to JP Morgan, the positive catalysts are not exhausted and the downside risks – including a hawkish turn by central banks, a slowdown in the Chinese economy or more significant restrictions on the Covid front – will not materialize or are already discounted in current stock values. JPM is overweight on European equities and cyclical sectors such as banking, mining and automotive.
Iveco redeems itself, the banks fly
On the parterre of Piazza Affari it stands out today Iveco (+ 5.96% to 10.71 euros) which rebounds after yesterday’s heavy losses at its stock market debut after the spin-off from CNH. The stock of the truck and bus manufacturer was also helped today by Goldman Sachs’ buy-in coverage, with a target price of € 12.
Among the big names of Piazza Affari it also stands out today Leonardo (+ 0.72%) which finalized the acquisition of 25.1% of the German company Hensoldt, a leading company in Germany in the field of sensors for defense and security applications, at a price of 606 million euros. TIM is confirmed at a good moment (+ 1.2%) with the declarations of the top management of CDP which have rekindled the hopes of an acceleration on the single network front.
Toned too Stellantis (+ 2.23% to 17.71 euros) which in December showed a drop of 34.8% of registrations in Italy, compared to the average -27.5% of the market. Fiat is confirmed as the first brand in Italy by market share with 15.58%.
Among the banks new leap of Unicredit (+ 3.81% to 14.27 euros) which touches the highest levels since February 2020, reaching more than + 35% compared to the closing levels of last November 26th. Intesa Sanpaolo also did very well, up by over 2 per cent.
Very good today Ferrari (+ 3%). Finally, one of the few minus signs is Enel (-0.32% to € 7.17) which has completed the purchase from ERG of the entire capital of ERG Hydro. The consideration is approximately € 1.265 billion, including the mark-to-market valuation of some hedging derivatives included in the perimeter and relating to part of the energy produced in the future by the ERG Hydro Srl plants.