Stock market: Europe sees a cautious rise ahead of the ECB announcement; Milan (+0.5%) leads the way
Crude oil prices fall slightly, but Brent remains above $100
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - European stock markets are attempting to recover following yesterday’s losses and the surge in energy prices, which are now edging slightly lower. Brent crude, however, remains above $100 a barrel (-0.5 per cent) and gas in Amsterdam stands at €79 per megawatt-hour, whilst cross-border attacks between the United States and Iran continue in the Middle East. The Milan Stock Exchange is up 0.5 per cent, as is Madrid, whilst Paris is up 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt is trading around the break-even point. Meanwhile, the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed 0.2 per cent higher, despite yesterday’s negative close on Wall Street, in the wake of the rally in crude oil prices which is fuelling inflation fears, whilst yields on 10-year US Treasuries remained stable at around 4.8 per cent. Today, producer price data is due in the US, followed by consumer price data tomorrow, both of which will influence the Federal Reserve’s upcoming decisions. In Europe, all eyes are on the ECB meeting and President Christine Lagarde’s press conference (scheduled for 14.45), which may offer clues as to the future. The market is pricing in a 25-basis-point rise in interest rates, which would bring rates to 2.5 per cent.
On the Milan stock exchange, Leonardo’s defence sector performed well (+1 per cent) following an upgrade by BNP Paribas. Snam (+1.3 per cent), Enel (+1 per cent) and Fineco (+0.9 per cent) were also among the top performers. All eyes remain on the banking sector ahead of today’s shareholders’ meeting at Intesa Sanpaolo (+0.74%), which is set to give the green light to the capital increase to fund the public exchange offer for MPS (+0.9%). This morning, the Siena-based bank announced that it had filed documents with Consob relating to the voluntary public exchange offer for Banco BPM (+0.06 per cent) and those relating to the public takeover bid for Banca Generali (+0.6 per cent). Bringing up the rear on the index were Moncler (-1.4%), alongside Poste (-1.17%) and TIM (-0.8%) on the eve of the expiry of the takeover bid launched for the telecoms group.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro/dollar is trading little changed at 1.1639 (from 1.1626 at yesterday’s close), the euro/yen at 178.68 (from 178.74) and the dollar/yen at 153.53. Bitcoin is up slightly at $78,670 (+0.25%), as is gold, which is trading at $4,400 an ounce.
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