Stock exchanges on the rise, Milan holds. Oil rises, euro above par
Positive opening for European stock exchanges in the first session of a week which sees the key event in the meeting of the European Central Bank. In Paris and Frankfurt, the indices started with an increase of half a percentage point and then extended to + 0.7%. Slightly behind Milan, flat at the start and then up by 0.3%, waiting for Wednesday, when the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, will speak to the Chambers after his resignation, rejected by the President of the Republic. Meanwhile, the spread jumped at the start to 232 points out of 223 on Friday’s closing.
The positive tone of the European markets is in the wake of that recorded on the Asian stock exchanges this morning (with Tokyo, however, closed for holidays) and Friday on Wall Street, when the indices closed in marked progress. The week that opens today sees the continuation of the publication of the quarterly reports: from the USA it is the turn of two other banks such as BofA and Goldman.
The most important appointment of the week is with the European Central Bank which on Thursday, at the end of the meeting of the monetary policy committee, is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2011. In particular, the market expects a rise of 25 basis points on the reference rate (from 0% to 0.25%), on that of deposits (from -0.50% to -0.25%) and on that of loans (from 0.25% to 0, 50%). Furthermore, the ECB is expected to update the markets on the progress made on the stabilization mechanism.
As for the shares, in the marketplace, Iveco (2.3%), Tenaris (+ 2%), followed by Stellantis (+ 1.77%) which reached an agreement with the Chinese partner Dongfeng, which in if it sells its shares, it will first propose them to the automotive group, which will be able to decide whether to buy or not, and which this morning announced the end of the JV in China with Gac for the production of Jeeps. Prysmian also rose (+ 1.88%), after the news that it was awarded two contracts worth around 250 million euros. In red, Enel (-3%), which pays the coupon detachment.
On the currency, the euro changed hands at 1.0134 dollars (1.0091 on Friday at the end) and 140.098 yen (139.791), when the dollar / yen exchange rate stood at 138.242 (138.535). The price of oil is on the rise: the September delivery contract on Brent rose 2.66% at 103.85 dollars a barrel and the one on the WTI expiring in August 2.51% at 100.04 dollars. The price of gas in Amsterdam rises by 3% to 164.5 euros per megawatt hour.