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(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – European stock markets, after a tonic start, have slowed down. Investors are cautious both while waiting for the quarterly reports that will be published in the next few days, in Europe and in the United States, and in view of the two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve, which will begin tomorrow. No changes in interest rates are expected, but attention will go to the words of number one, Jerome Powell, to understand the central institute’s future moves on the cost of money. The FTSE MIB in Milan reached parity, as did Frankfurt and Paris. London and Amsterdam are on the rise, while Madrid (IBEX 35) is doing badly on the day in which the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, announced that he will not resign, despite the opening of an investigation against his wife. «After five days of reflection and thanks to the support received from many quarters, I have decided, and I have already communicated this to the king, to continue working as president of the Spanish Government», he declared, speaking of «a destabilization campaign against his family”. The spread between BTp and Bund stood at around 129 points, on the day in which the Treasury placed government bonds for 3.5 billion.
BTPs, ten-year bonds placed for 3.5 billion, yields rising to 3.86%
In detail, the fifth tranche of the five-year BTp expiring 01/07/2029 was placed for an amount of 3.25 billion against requests for 4.309 billion. The ratio between supply and demand was 1.33, while the gross yield, up 21 cents on the previous auction, stood at 3.41%. The fifth tranche of the ten-year BTp expiring 01/07/2034 was also issued. The security was placed for 3.5 billion against a demand of 4.689 billion, with a supply/demand ratio of 1.34. The yield increased by 19 cents on last month’s auction to stop at 3.86%. Finally, the Treasury issued the first tranche of the CcTeu expiring 04/14/2032 for 3.5 billion. Demand amounted to 4.867 billion. The yield stood at 4.90 percent. The emissions settlement date falls on May 2nd.
Germany, inflation stable in April at 2.2% per year
German inflation was stable in April, +2.2% on year; thus remaining at its lowest levels since May 2021. The federal institute Destatis indicates this in the flash estimate. According to the results available so far, the inflation rate on a monthly basis is growing at +0.5% from 0.4% in March. The reading is substantially in line with forecasts. Again according to Destatis, the inflation rate net of food and energy, core inflation, is expected to be +3.0%.
Focus on quarterly reports
The week will still be guided by the accounts of American big tech, in particular Amazon (tomorrow, Tuesday 30 April) and Apple (Thursday 2 May), after the publication of the accounts of Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Microsoft and Meta released the last week. On the macro front, attention is instead focused on the data on European inflation tomorrow, as well as on the Federal Reserve meeting in the States. Meanwhile, the decline in the indicator on confidence in the economy in the euro area emerged (it fell by 0.6 points to 95.6 in April). On the corporate front Vivendi has announced the numbers for the January-March period, which boasted revenue growth of 4.275 billion euros, with an increase of 5.4% at constant currency and in the scope compared to the same period in 2023. In particular, Canal+ Group, Lagardère and Havas recorded a strong increase of revenues in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023. The company’s top management also indicated that the demerger project announced on December 13, 2023 is proceeding. Indeed, in order to fully exploit the development potential of all its activities , the Vivendi management board had proposed to the supervisory board the possibility of exploring the feasibility of a project to divide the company into multiple entities, each of which would be listed on the stock exchange. As far as Piazza Affari is concerned, the focus will be on the banks, which will face the test of the quarterly reports in the next few days.
A2a, volatile banks in the expected accounting season, is running in Piazza Affari
In Milan, A2a started with a lively rise, in the wake of the European utilities sector, which also benefits from the news coming from the G7 in Turin on the Environment, Energy and Climate. However, A2a is also pushed by a favorable report from Kepler, which is betting on an increase in the company’s estimates for 2024. The Nexi are also running. On the other hand, the banks, after a positive start, have slowed down and some, such as Banco Bpm and Unicredit, have turned negative. After the good performance of recent months, investors are taking home the gains, awaiting the accounts for the first quarter of 2024. Luxury stocks are still in slight decline, from Moncler to Brunello Cucinelli to Ferrari. Outside the main basket, rally by Seri Industrial, which on the eve announced the negotiation with Leonardo – Finmeccanica and Invitalia to purchase Industria Italiana Autobus
