MILAN – European stock markets are moving cautiously higher, with Piazza Affari gaining, led by banks. The euphoria that prevailed yesterday following the publication of the Nvidia reports and caused the rush is waning on the markets Wall Street. European markets are also grappling with confirmation of a slowdown in the German economy, with GDP falling 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Chinese stock markets close the session near intraday highs and continue to rise despite new negative signals for the real estate sector: The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.55% to reach 3,004.88 for the first time since December 5 3,000 points, while that of Shenzhen recorded an increase of 1.20% to 1,669.85 points.
Mediobanca in the spotlight in Piazza Affari on the bank merger dossiers
The title “Piazzetta Cuccia” is at the top of the list for Piazza Affari. The scenario of The paper about a consolidation of Italian banks, resulting from a major operation involving Unicredit, Mediobanca and Generali, results in the shares in question appearing on the stock exchange. Mediobanca, which according to the newspaper’s hypotheses would fall victim to Unicredit, is rising rapidly, gaining 4.5%. Also in the plus: Generali (+3.5%), whose main shareholder is Piazzetta Cuccia. Unicredit, on the other hand, reports only a cautious increase (+0.64%). The return of the banking risk hypotheses also drives Banco Bpm (+3.5%) and, with less conviction, Mps (+1.7%) and Bper (+0.8%), which reduced their initial gains. Popolare i Sondrio, on the other hand, is tonic (+2%).
The banks are pushing Milan, Piazza Affari is accelerating
The Milan stock exchange extends the rise in a positive context also to the other European markets, after the results exceeded the expectations of Nvidia, the richest American chipmaker in the world and the flagship of artificial intelligence. The bank-driven Ftse Mib rose 0.70% to 32,589 points in the morning.
Mixed closures in Asia
End of mixed session for Asian markets. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange closed slightly down 0.1% at 16,725.86 points, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.55% to 3,004.88 points and the Shenzhen Component rose 0.28% to 9,069.42 points. Global markets notably rallied after Nvidia posted surprising results, sparking a rally in other technology companies that led Wall Street to another record. Tokyo markets remained closed for the holiday, a day after hitting record highs.
Gas falls to lowest level since August 2021
On the Amsterdam market, the reference point for Europe, gas prices continue to fall: the methane future for delivery in March, which had already started negative at the beginning of the session, fell by 3.2% to 22.4 euros per megawatt hour and corrected the lowest level since August 2021. Oil is also weak, losing 1.2% to $77.6 per barrel.
Intesa Sanpaolo-Cdp, 800 million social bond to promote the growth of SMEs
Provide Italian micro, small and medium-sized enterprises with new resources worth 800 million euros for sustainable growth programs that have a positive social impact. This is the purpose of the social bond issued by Intesa Sanpaolo and fully subscribed by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Specifically, these funds will be used by the credit institution to provide Italian SMEs and mid-cap companies with new credit lines of up to 20 million euros and with a minimum maturity of two years for interventions in line with the green, social and sustainable bond Intesa Sanpaolo Framework, published in June 2022. In order to promote the growth of smaller businesses, the agreement also stipulates that at least 51% of the total financing amount will be allocated to SMEs. The joint initiative of Intesa Sanpaolo and Cdp – explains a note – responds to the desire to support the Italian entrepreneurial fabric in a constantly evolving market phase and to expand the possibilities of access to financing to make even the most complex investments while promoting the transition to a sustainable economic model of the companies that benefit from the credit lines, with positive effects also on the territory. The operation is part of the broader collaboration between Cdp and Intesa Sanpaolo to promote joint initiatives in favor of Italian companies, which has made it possible, from 2021, to make available a resource pool of 2.8 billion, which by the end of 2023 has already supported over 1,300 Italian SMEs and mid-cap companies with the aim of stimulating the country’s real economy.
Germany, Ifo index slightly declining
The Ifo business climate indicator for Germany rose slightly to 85.5 in February 2024, but remained close to the three-and-a-half-year low of 85.2 reached in January and was in line with market expectations. Companies were less negative about their expectations for the coming months (84.1 compared to 83.5 in January), while their current situation remained at the weakest level since July 2020 (with the index unchanged at 86.9).
Della Valle: “We don’t have to sell anything”
“We don’t have to sell anything, we have a family business with young people who want to do this job better…”: This is how Diego Della Valle reacted today in Milan on the sidelines of the Tod’s fashion presentation to ANSA, in which he asked whether the delisting – operation from Piazza Affari aimed at a sale at a later date.
Cautious upward start for the European stock markets
Slightly rising start for the main European stock exchanges: a few minutes after trading began, Milan rose by 0.44%, with the Ftse Mib at 32,464. Frankfurt is unchanged at +0.03%, London at +0.20% and Paris at +0.10%.
On the Asian market, Tokyo closed significantly higher at +2.19% and 39,098 points.
The spread opens with little movement
The spread between BTP and German federal bonds is initially little changed at 146 basis points, with the yield on the Italian 10-year bond on the secondary market falling by one point to 3.9%, while the federal yield is stable at 2.44%. The Spanish bonos yield also remained stable at 3.34%, as did the Greek 10-year bond yield at 3.49%. Yesterday, the BTP-Bund difference opened at 149 points and closed the session at 147 points.
