The headlines of the day at Piazza Affari: focus on DiaSorin, STM and MPS

The cautious position of the Federal Reserve (Fed) has emerged on the European markets, still grappling with the inflation nightmare. Under the microscope are the statements of President Jerome Powell who underlined that inflation in the US has not made sufficient progress to believe that it is returning sustainably towards the 2% target. Thus, expectations regarding possible cuts by the US central bank during the year appear to have been further limited.

“The shadow of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East still lingers as investors question the timing of future Fed rate cuts. These, however, may not be the markets’ real long-term concerns. Instead, they could be justifications for a healthy profit-taking following a prolonged rally that saw 24 new all-time highs without significant corrections”, comments Gabriel Debach, global markets strategist at eToro.

Meanwhile, after a red start, Piazza Affari is continuing to recover ground. Now the Ftse Mib index advances by one percentage point to 33,738.66 points. It is among the best on the list DiaSorin. Also to be monitored Monte dei Paschi di Siena And STMicroelectronics after ASML data.

DiaSorin, Equita still says buy in view of the accounts

Positive trend on the stock market for DiaSorin, with the stock rising by over 3% and positioning itself among the best in the Ftse Mib. Today the action of the Italian diagnostics group came under the scrutiny of Equity which confirmed the purchase recommendation (rationg buy), with a target price of 106 euros awaiting the results of the first quarter of 2024 scheduled for May 10th (to consult the complete quarterly calendar of the big Ftse Mib companies). The analysts of the Milanese SIM expect a good quarter for DiaSorin which “will improve visibility on the estimates of solid growth in immunodiagnostics, the resilience of the molecular sector and the recovery of the LTG division”.

STM is affected by ASML’s accounts

Sitting under the banner ofuncertainty for STMicroelectronics, with fluctuating movements after the accounts of the Dutch Asml. The shares of the Italian-French chip giant now show a slight increase of around 0.4%.

As regards ASML Holding’s numbers (the stock is losing more than 4% on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange), the market is disappointed by the indications coming from new orders which have not met expectations, held back by a drop in demand for its most advanced by the chip industry. In detail, orders amounted to 3.6 billion euros in the first quarter of 2024 compared to expectations of 4.63 billion. “We consider 2024 as a transition year with continuous investments, to be ready for the turning point of the cycle,” underlined the number one of the Dutch chip group Peter Weennink.

MPS toned, the numbers of the latest bond

The Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (Mps) stock advances by around 2% and recovers the psychological threshold of 4 euros on the stock market. Over the last month, the Sienese bank’s stock has had a fluctuating performance, however remaining one of the ten best stocks of the Ftse Mib of 2024 (approximately +33% in the week position).

Yesterday the company led by Luigi Lovaglio, which will communicate its quarterly accounts to the market on May 6th, announced that it had the placement of a covered bond issue with a 5-year maturity, intended for Italian and foreign institutional investors, for an amount of 750 million euros was successfully completed.

This is the first issue of European Covered Bond (Premium), explains MPS in a note, carried out by the Bank after the transposition of the European harmonization directive on covered bonds, which allows for further diversification of financing sources. Strong interest from Italian and foreign investors, with orders exceeding 2.3 billion euros, allowing the coupon to be set at the level of 3.5%, at a re-offer price of 99.919%. The bond has an expected rating of Aa3 / AA- / AA (Moody’s/Fitch/Morningstar DBRS), expiring April 23, 2029.