(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – European stock exchanges are in “deep red” on global fears for the South African variant which – with its 32 mutations and high contagiousness – could suddenly make anti-Covid vaccines less effective. The EU Commission, in fact, has already proposed the stop of all flights from South Africa while an emergency WHO meeting will soon be held. China is also on high alert and has imposed new restrictions in some areas of the country. In a nightmare session, among the worst lists in the Old Continent there is the FTSE MIB but the sales are hitting without exception the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt, while the Asian exchanges have closed all with higher passives at 2%, from Hong Kong to Tokyo. Wall Street futures are also down, half-way through Thanksgiving Day after the close on the eve. Fears that the Covid variant will impose further lockdowns and a new slowdown in global energy demand knock out oil with the WTI losing almost 5% to 78.3 dollars.
In Piazza Affari, banks and oil collapse
In Piazza Affari, one of the few stocks in countertrend is Diasorin a breath away from 190 euros on the day when the markets collapse due to fears about the new South African variant of Covid. For now, the prospect of the Kkr takeover is keeping Telecom Italia afloat on the day of the board of directors that will discuss the takeover bid for the American Kkr fund and will address the issue of the proxies of the CEO. Luigi Gubitosi. On the other hand, there was a wave of sales on all other stocks, starting with oil with Saipem. Realizations in the banking sector with the big Unicredit and Banco Bpm which suffer the most accentuated losses. The prices of Autogrill, Stellantis and Moncler go down on the prospect of new restrictions to stem the infections. Out of the main list, Ariston Holding is saved on the day of its debut in Piazza Affari.
Spread down to 126 points, rate drops to 1.03%
The spread between BTp and Bund on the MTS telematic secondary market tightens. The yield differential between the benchmark ten-year BTp and the German bond of the same duration is indicated at 126 basis points, from 130 points at the closing date on 25 November. The yield of the Italian 10-year falls to 1.03% from 1.06% at the closing on the eve of the day. On the foreign exchange front, the single currency strengthens against the dollar at 1.124 (from 1.121 dollars at the last close) and is also worth 128.37 yen (from 129.3 yen) while the dollar-yen is equal to 114.2 (from 115.35).
Markets between “Black Friday” and Fed moves
Waiting to understand the level of consumption globally and especially in the United States, where the traditional appointment of Black Friday leads the buying season leading up to the Christmas holidays, it is the expectations for the moves of the central banks to hold the spot. The minutes of the latest ECB meeting confirm the prudent and wait-and-see attitude of the Frankfurt bankers, who are not unbalanced on the continuation of the pandemic purchases of Pepp beyond the expected deadline of March 2022.
Tokyo in sharp decline (-2.5%) due to the new Covid variant
Finally, the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed with a sharp decline, worried about the new Covid variant identified in South Africa, which caused the yen to soar. The leading Nikkei index fell by 2.53% to 28,751.62 points, after losing more than 3% mid-session, and shows a decline of 3.3% for the whole week. lost 2.01% to 1,984.98 points. A new variant of Covid-19, currently called B.1.1.529, has been detected in South Africa and has a very rapid spread, according to scientists, who do not know at this stage whether the vaccines, currently available, are effective or not. The UK has already banned entry for travelers from South Africa and five other southern African countries.