MILANO – The markets are once again watching with concern the talks between the White House and the Republicans to raise the US debt ceiling and avoid a historic default: speaker Kevin McCarthy when he left the meeting on Tuesday afternoon he said that an agreement had yet to be found and his negotiating point man, Garret Graves, hinted that no new summits were on the agenda anytime soon. Stocks in Asia have reacted weakly to this non-news, while futures on Wall Street are holding up. Weak departure in Europe. The collapse of the New Zealand dollar should be noted, with the Central Bank announcing the achievement of the peak on rates.
Autogrill, takeover bid extended to June 1st
Dufry’s overall stake in Autogrill’s share capital, at the end of the offer period, is confirmed as 87.2838% of Autogrill’s share capital. The membership period is extended by a further 5 days from 26 May to 1 June. By accepting the exchange proposal – already preferred in the first phase by 98.64% of the participants – investors choose to participate in the industrial integration project which will lead to the birth of the largest group in the world in the travel experience sector.
Gas at two-year lows
Natural gas futures in Europe continued to fall below EUR 30 per megawatt hour, the lowest since June 2021, after last week’s 7.9% drop and taking the year-to-date decline to 60%. At the start of trading at the TTF reference hub, the June contract is traded at 29.4 euros per megawatt hour. Abundant LNG supplies, reduced consumption, mild weather conditions, increased renewable energy production and subdued demand from Asia contributed to the decline. However, there is a possibility that freak heatwaves and drought conditions during the summer, coupled with a recovery in Asian LNG demand, could put upward pressure on prices.
Tokyo closes down 0.89%
The Tokyo Stock Exchange finished trading with a drop following the closure of the US stock indexes. The Nikkei finished trading down 0.89% to 30,682 points. The stalemate on the US debt ceiling is also weighing on Asian stock markets. June 1 is the date on which the United States could go into default, if an agreement is not reached first to increase the stars and stripes debt ceiling.
Piazza Affari slips, Mediobanca does well after the plan
A heavy start in Piazza Affari, with the Ftse Mib worsening after the first negotiations, in line with the other European lists, and dropped by 1.4%. Investors, worried by the continuation of the negotiations on the American debt and by the above-expected data on British inflation, unload Leonardo (-4.5%), Interpump (-3.2%), Cnh (-2.7%) and Pirelli (-2.6%), with the government having to decide on the use of the Golden power. Iveco (-2.9%) and Diasorin (-2.4%) were also bad, while among the banks the Bper (-2.4%) and Mps (-2.2%) led the reductions. Prysmian holds parity (+0.04%) while only Mediobanca (+2.4%) moves against the trend, rewarded by a plan that beats market expectations in terms of dividends and shareholder remuneration.
Start in red for the European stock exchanges
Negative start for European stock exchanges, with fears about US debt weighing on investor sentiment. In Paris, the Cac 40 index dropped by 0.98% to 7,306 points, in London, the Ftse 100 fell by 0.99% to 7,685 points, while in Frankfurt, the Dax dropped by 0.89% to 16,008 points.
Falling futures for European stock exchanges
European stock markets are expected to start the session with a downward trend, after closing down yesterday in the wake of the disappointing PMI indices of the Eurozone and Great Britain, which slowed down in May due to the collapse of the manufacturing sector and the expansion lower than expected in the services sector. The uncertainty linked to the deadlock in US debt negotiations also weighs on sentiment. The Euro Stoxx 50 dropped 0.64%, in London futures on the Ftse 100 index lost 0.51% and those on Francodorte’s Dax 0.63%.