Stock exchange in real time: Europe skeptical about anti-crisis plans, Milan (-1.8%) is part of the tunnel

Closing down in Piazza Affari at the end of a session that had opened with a slight pi sign. The Ftse Mib index marks -1.78% at 21.554 points, while the Ftse Italia All Share drops 1.92% to 23.320 points. The Ftse Star also fell, leaving 2.56% on the ground at 34,473 points.

Milan in line with other European markets. In evidence, a few stocks, sales prevail a little over all sectors. Above all, energy producers were hit after OPEC’s decision to cut production by 1.5 million barrels, to keep the price of crude oil high. The spread between the BTP and the German Bund closed at 175 basis points, with the rate of the Italian 10-year rate at 1.06% on the secondary market.

The losses, in line with the trend of Wall Street and with the other main European stock exchanges, concerned all sectors, with rare exceptions: they gained Exor (+ 1.1%), Leonardo (+ 1%) and Recordati ( + 0.3%). Fineco exception (+ 0.2%) among banks, one of the most penalized sectors, with Ubi (-5.8%), Banco Bpm (-4.2%), Intesa (-3.8%), Bper ( -3.6%) and Unicredit (-1.5%), while the Btp-Bund spread arrived above 175 points. At the bottom of the main list Juve (-5.8%), which will be leaving the Ftse Mib on 23 March. Luxury is down with Ferragamo (-5%) and Moncler (-2.1%). Descent for Saipem (-5.1%), less for Tenaris (-1.8%) and Eni (-1.6%) with Opec Plus in Vienna. Male Azimut (-4.9%) despite the accounts and Tim (-4.6%). Thump for Mediaset (-4.8%), on which it counted the dividend cut and a vision on 2020 below expectations for ProsiebeSat.1, of which the Italian controls 15.11%.

Wall Street is going negative but it reduces losses. The Dow Jones for 1.95% to 26.567.68 points, the Nasdaq drops 1.29% to 8,900.58 points while the S&P 500 leaves 1.80% on the ground at 3,073.65 points.

The morning

In the early afternoon, Milan made losses worse, after a difficult morning that had seen the Ftse Mib index fall by over 1.6%. . The banking sector, which is subject to strong sales, continues to weigh down the Ftse Mib index. While in the session yesterday the Intesa-UBI duo had managed to dodge the losses, today it is precisely the titles of the two promised brides to suffer. The worst Ubi Banca with -4.85% in the 3.37 euro area. For Intesa Sanpaolo, the drop exceeds 3% to 2.06 euros, worse than the other big Unicredit which limits the drops to -2.5%. Today the Stoox Europe Bank index, with the daily drop of around 2%, entered Bear Market territory (-20% from the period peaks). The downward pressure on Italian banks is due to the concrete risk of a recession and the prospect of even lower interest rates that will weigh on margins. Banco Bpm’s negative moment continues, which drops by over 4% leading to over -16% the balance of the last three sessions, that is after the presentation of the new plan to 2023. From the peaks of February 19, the share marks over -35%. But the black shirt goes to Juventus (-3%), destined to leave the main basket from the session of 23 March, when it will be replaced by Banca Mediolanum (-2.92%). Leonardo also weak (-0.84%) while defensive stocks such as Italgas (+ 1.31%), Terna (+ 0.75%), Snam (+ 0.33%), Hera (+0.19) are growing %). London was also negative, falling by 1.89%. In Frankfurt the Dax fell by 2.15% and in Paris the Cac 40 dropped by 2.30%. The spread between the BTP and the German Bund jumped to 175 points. Finally, gold is still advancing on fears for the economy deriving from the impact of the coronavirus. The metal with immediate delivery on the Asian markets changed hands at $ 1,657 an ounce, up 1.2% compared to the prices on the eve (real-time quotes here).
Wall Street gets worse. The Dow Jones lost 3.09% to 26.266.05 points, the Nasdaq lost 2.54% to 8.791.10 points while the S&P 500 left 2.86% on the ground at 3.040.50 points.

Yesterday on Wall Street

Wall Street ended yesterday’s session sharply higher, rebounding from the net losses that characterized the previous session. The Djia added over 1,000 points and closed again above the psychological threshold of 27,000 points, while the Nasdaq regained 9,000 and returned to positive for the year. For the Dow Jones of the second biggest hike ever in terms of points. Markets celebrated the victory of former vice president Joe Biden on Super Tuesday, the first crucial hub of Democratic primaries. Despite Bernie Sanders’ success in California, Biden has won 9 of the 14 states up for grabs. And, after Michael Bloomberg’s retirement and subsequent support from the New York billionaire, he becomes the favorite to challenge Trump to this fall’s presidential election, removing the uncertainty represented by Sanders’ socialist policies. It also helps the leap in US manufacturing activity that has risen to the highest for over a year. According to ISM Servizi, the activity rose to 57.3 points from 55.5 points in January (against expectations for a drop to 55.0 points). In the background, concerns remain about the spread of coronavirus and its impact on the global economy. After the Federal Reserve cut interest rates from 1.50-1.75% to 1.0-1.25% (partially disappointing market expectations that a more aggressive move was expected), and waiting of a likely easing by the European Central Bank, yesterday was the turn of the central bank of Canada which cut the reference rate from 1.75% to 1.25%. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has launched a $ 50 billion fund to help member countries limit the impact of the virus and called for more international coordination to deal with the epidemic. Again on the macroeconomic front, according to the monthly report prepared by Macroeconomics Advisers and the agency that prepares Automatic Data Processing payrolls, employment in the US private sector grew beyond expectations in February (+183,000 against expectations for +155,000). The Djia added 1,173.45 points, 4.53%, to 27,090.86. The S&P 500 gained 126.75 points, 4.22%, at 3,130.12 points. While the Nasdaq rose by 334.00 points, 3.85%, to 9,018.09.

Asian stock markets raise their heads

The Chinese stock exchanges end the session with strong gains sustained by the announcement of the Ministry of Finance which has allocated another 110.48 billion yuan (about $ 16 billion) of additional funds to be used for the prevention and control of the epidemic of the new coronavirus: the Shanghai Composite index gained 1.99%, at 3.071.68 points, while the Shenzhen one rose by 1.78%, to 1.929,44. The yuan is still gaining ground on the dollar around the closing of the stock lists. The Chinese Central Bank set bilateral parity at 6.9403 this morning, with a strengthening of the renminbi of 111 basis points. Growth also closed for the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the wake of Wall Street which welcomed Joe Biden’s return as favorite in the Democrats’ primaries after Super Tuesday. The Nikkei index closed 1.09% higher at 21,329.12 points while the wider Topix index gained 0.88% at 1,515.71 points. In addition, measures taken by various countries to combat the spread of the coronavirus epidemic have reduced the pressure to sell stocks, according to some traders.

Korea also reacts

In Korea, the second country in the world most affected by the coronavirus crisis after China, the Seoul Stock Exchange marks the fourth session in a row upwards on expectations of new stimuli to the economy, starting with the monetary easing of central banks after the 0.5% rate cut approved by the Fed by surprise: the Kospi index gained 25.93 points, rising to 2,085.26 (+ 1.26%). Meanwhile, South Korea released 438 new coronavirus cases this morning, bringing the national total to 5,766.

The dollar falls, the euro strengthens

The euro opens above $ 1.11 and the greenback falls against all currencies, after the monetary easing decided by the Fed to cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus. The European currency is exchanged for 1.1133 dollars and 119.50 yen. Down the dollar / yen to 107.34. International investors are betting on the euro and the yen and are betting against the dollar, predicting new US rate cuts. The greenback lost 2.5% from its year high and remains around 10% above the low of early 2018. The weakness of the dollar favors US multinationals because it makes it cheaper to convert foreign profits into currency of the United States. In addition, this trend could also soften the impact of coronavirus on the economies of developing countries, making it easier for them to finance debt in dollars.