Towards a cautious reopening on western markets, pending thePowell audition – president of the Fed – who could give further indications on the moves of the American Central Bank. This is the main theme of the markets at this stage: the hearing launches a series of key events which also see the publication of data on US jobs, then inflation and finally the actual decision of the Federal Reserve. On the edge of the Eurozone, Lagarde it actually confirmed over the weekend that it will raise the cost of borrowing by another fifty basis points in March.
Among raw materials, China’s 5% growth target is being digested on the markets, but investors are ruling out that the Party can implement support measures on a very large scale. This, the reasoning goes, may not give commodities a boost. Positive closure for Tokyowhich gained 1.1% in the morning to reach the top for three months.
Flat Milan at the end of the morning
The Milan Stock Exchange is flat at the turning point at the end of the morning, in line with the other European financial centres. Investors’ expectations point to tomorrow’s six-monthly hearing of Fed chairman Jerome Powell in the US Congress on the state of the economy. The Ftse Mib index advanced by 0.05% to 27,837 points. On the shields the Tim stock, which scores +2.75% after the green light of the board of directors of Cassa depositi e prestiti for the presentation of a non-binding offer for the newly established NetCo which will include the infrastructural network and the stake in Sparkle. Inwit was also bought, which rose by 1.24%. The black jersey of the day goes to Amplifon which loses 2.86%. Among the banks FinecoBank drops by 1.77%. While among the industrial Iveco Group falls by 1.30%. Weak Erg leaving 1.09% on the ground.
Asia closes mixed after China’s targets
Asian stock exchanges close mixed. Investors were disappointed by China’s 5% GDP growth target in 2023, the lowest in 40 years, set with the start of the annual session of the National People’s Congress. The Shanghai Composite finished the session down 0.2% at 3,322.03 points while the Shenzhen Composite finished trading unchanged. Hong Kong went against the trend with the Hang Seng index which recorded a +0.2% to 20,603.19 points. The Seoul Stock Exchange rose sharply with the Kospi gaining 1.3% to 2,462.62 points. The Tokyo Stock Exchange, on the other hand, closed in positive territory with an increase of 1.11%: this is the best result for 3 months, in the wake of the increases recorded on Wall Street in recent sessions.
Tim, rally on the stock market after the Cdp-Macquarie offer
Start with strong purchases in Piazza Affari for Tim after Cdp Equity and Macquarie presented a non-binding offer for the purchase of 100% of Netco: the share of the Tlc group rises by 4.3% to 0.32 euros. There would be 18 billion on the plate, with around 2-2.5 billion in terms of effective cash and therefore available for Tim’s debt reduction.
Weak start for EU markets. Positive Milan with Tim
Weak start to the week for the European stock markets awaiting tomorrow’s congressional hearing of the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, and the US employment data scheduled for next Friday, which will give new indications in view of future rate choices by the Fed. In the morning all eyes are on the intervention of ECB adviser Lane. In early trading, the Paris Cac 40 index rose by 0.50% to 7,384.92 points, the Frankfurt Dax 30 rose by 0.20% to 15,609.32 points and the Ftse 100 decreased by 0.04% to 7,943.75 points. In Piazza Affari, the Ftse Mib starts with a cautious increase of 0.46%.
Btp, positive start on the day of the new Btp Italia
Positive start for government bonds traded on the secondary market: after the first trades, bonds appreciate for the entire sovereign sector with the Italian bond seeing its spread versus the Bund narrow. The spread is indicated at 179 basis points from the 182 points of Friday’s closing. The Italian 10-year yield is indicated at 4.45% from 4.53% at last week’s finale. Today the Treasury launches the offer of the new Btp Italia.
You are looking for futures in Europe
A cautious start is looming for European stock exchanges at the beginning of a week once again marked by the Federal reserve. Futures on the Eurostoxx 50 move below parity (-0.12%), in line with futures on the indices of the main European stock exchanges. Futures on the Ftse Mib of Milan go against the trend, rising by 0.37%. After China announced a 5% growth target for 2023 over the weekend – as indicated by the FT being the lowest in three decades – investors’ attention will once again turn to the US central bank this week. After the “dove” Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Fed, said he was ‘in favor of raising interest rates by 25 basis points from the current 4.5%-4.75% at the next meeting on 21 -March 22, because ‘it is appropriate to be cautious, Tuesday and Wednesday the spotlight will be on the presentation in Congress of the Fed’s semi-annual report on monetary policy by President Powell. During the week, again from the US, new important indicators will arrive on the labor market: the adp report on employment in the private sector (Wednesday) and the February employment report (Friday). Meanwhile, on the foreign exchange market, the euro regained the threshold of 1.06 dollars and changed hands to 1.0648 from 1.0593 at last Friday’s close. The price of oil moved down, with Brent delivering May at 85.24 dollars a barrel (-0.69%). The price of gas in Amsterdam also fell: -2.2% to 44 euros per megawatt hour.
Positive session for Tokyo, highs for three months
Positive session on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as investors pushed their purchases on the back of Wall Street’s optimism on Friday for a possible pause in the series of rate hikes by the Fed. The effect on the Japanese market was to bring back the index above 28 thousand points and to close the session at its highest since last November. The dust was ignited on Friday by a member of the Fed who indicated the possibility of a stop to the increase in interest rates starting from next summer. The Nikkei index of the 225 leading stocks therefore closed up by 1.1% at 28,237.78 points and the Topix index recorded an increase of 0.84% at 2,036.49 points. In China, meanwhile, authorities have set a modest target for GDP growth this year of around
5 percent. Among the stocks traded in Tokyo, in evidence during the course, the airline Jal increased after the announcement of its return to the leadership stocks of the Nikkei from next April.