Stock market: Europe firm midway through the session ahead of Warsh’s speech; Milan up 0.8 per cent, led by luxury goods and banks
Oil prices are on the rise, with Brent crude back at $90
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - European stock markets are trading firmly as the morning session draws to a close, whilst Wall Street futures are mixed, with all eyes on the speech by Fed Governor Kevin Warsh at the central bank symposium in Jackson Hole. This is his first speech in his capacity as a member of the Federal Reserve Board, coming at a time when inflation is above target and the bond market is under pressure. The market’s focus therefore remains on monetary policy, with fears of a possible tightening at the US central bank’s upcoming meetings, particularly in light of the PCE index – the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge – published on Wednesday, which showed a slight rise on both a monthly and annual basis, exceeding analysts’ estimates.
At the halfway point of the trading session, the FTSE MIB in Milan was up 0.77 per cent, the CAC in Paris 0.86 per cent, the DAX in Frankfurt 0.46 per cent, the IBEX in Madrid 0.54 per cent, the AEX in Amsterdam by 0.25 per cent and the FTSE 100 in London by 0.19 per cent.
On the Milan Stock Exchange, luxury stocks Moncler (+2.06 per cent) and Ferrari (+1.67 per cent) are shining, topping the main index, whilst Brunello Cucinelli (+1.25 per cent) is not far behind, following buying activity in Essilux (+2.6 per cent) in Paris after the announcement of a share buyback of up to 5 million shares, which is also driving the entire French and European luxury sector. Attention remains firmly on the banking sector. Unipol rose (+1.32%) after its chairman, Carlo Cimbri, described in an interview with *Il Sole 24 Ore* – amongst other things – the future central role of MPS in the second banking group to be formed alongside BPER, should Intesa’s public takeover bid for Monte dei Paschi go ahead. The defence sector, by contrast, is under pressure, with Leonardo (-2.07 per cent) the worst-performing of the Milanese blue chips, following reports in the Financial Times regarding a possible U-turn by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, on defence spending targets in the budget he is due to present in October.
Whilst the market remains on the sidelines awaiting further developments regarding the situation in the Middle East, oil prices are edging higher, with Brent futures for October at $90.15 per barrel (+0.5 per cent), and WTI contracts for the same month at $83.58 (+0.07 per cent). European natural gas prices are also rising to €69.035 per megawatt-hour (+1.1 per cent). In the currency markets, the US dollar has seen little movement: the euro is trading at 1.164 against the greenback (-0.05%), whilst the dollar/yen exchange rate stands at 159.48 (+0.07%). Bitcoin fell to $79,572 (-0.8%).
