Yesterday South Korea stopped. The planes have postponed departures for an hour and a half. Banks and offices have done the same to allow parents to light candles and votive candles on the occasion of the most important event of the year: the high school entrance exam, a very tough nine-hour test on which the future will depend of half a million young people selected on the basis of knowledge and skills. The test did not slow down the performance of the Seoul Stock Exchange (+1,1%), the most brilliant at the moment also due to the successes of diplomacy which has reopened channels with the eternal Japanese enemy and aims to appoint one of its representatives to the leadership of the WTO destined for a sure relaunch with Joe Biden.
Not surprisingly, investors are choosing Seoul as an alternative to China in view of further deterioration of relations with the United States. These movements are causing a strong appreciation of dollar bonds issued by Korean companies: instead, the yield premiums paid on US currency corporate bonds of Chinese companies are practically at a standstill. In the meantime, the markets are starting to end the week with a slowdown, but comforted by the recovery on subsidies in the USA.
Tokyo's Nikkei is down 0,2% this morning. The prefecture of Osaka, where the second wave of the pandemic is overwhelming health facilities, has raised the alert level to the maximum. Reductions of the same order of magnitude for the Hang Seng of Hong Kong and for the CSI 300 of Shanghai and Shenzen.
Mumbai Stocks are up 0,8%. The Reserve Bank of India left its key rates unchanged at 4% early this morning, a confirmation that came as no surprise to economists, as inflation rose to a six-year high of 7,6% in October.
Wall Street's S&P 500 futures are up slightly, having closed yesterday's session at parity. The Nasdaq gained 0,2% also thanks to the new leap by Tesla, which with the +4,3% recorded at the end of the session rises to 593 dollars per share, a new all-time high. The Dow also performed well (+0,29%): Ryanair has decided to purchase 75 Air Maxis.
Brent oil, up 2%, is approaching $50 a barrel. Tonight the delegates of OPEC enlarged to Russia reached an agreement on a new production regime which effectively limits the upward deviations to half a million a day. The directive previously in force provided for an increase of two million barrels starting from January 2021; the new one leaves open the possibility of additional cuts, up to a maximum of half a million barrels.
The euro is at its highest since 2018 against the dollar, at 1,214, ahead of today's US jobs data. The consensus expects 475 new jobs, down from +638 in October. Unemployment is estimated to have slightly improved to 6,8%.
EURO ZONE: SERVICES HOLDING DOWN, THE EURO FLYING
The rise of the euro together with the negative data, albeit discounted, of the PMI services index (down to 41,7, in the middle of the recession zone) have conditioned the European lists, already tuned into the measures that the ECB will have to take next week. This explains Frankfurt's silence in the face of upward pressure from the euro. Even Philip Lane, the chief economist who has fulfilled the role of spokesman for the Central Bank, is silent. In the past, however, when the euro moved around 1,20, positions were taken by the members of the Central Bank. This time, for now, Frankfurt is silent waiting for the directorate. Morgan Stanley is aiming for an expansion of the PEPP and TLTRO loans from 500 to 600 billion, but no news on rates. Too little to reverse the course of the single currency.
MILAN RISES ABOVE 22 THOUSAND
Piazza Affari was supported by the news arriving from Wall Street. The index rises by 0,16%, just enough to regain the 22 points (22.007) by a whisker on the day in which the country records the maximum number of victims in 24 hours since the beginning of the pandemic (993).
LVMH CROSSES THE 500 EURO BARRIER
In the rest of Europe, Frankfurt (-0,42%), Madrid (-0,24%) and Paris (-0,16%) are down. Danone leaves 1,69% on the ground. Luxury shines: Hermès +1,52%. The flagship of the sector, LVMH, breaks the 500 euro barrier (500,50) for the first time.
BREXIT ONE STEP AWAY, BUT PARIS HAS DOUBTS
London confirms progress (+0,4%), favored both by progress on Brexit and by the flash approval of the Pfizer-BiONtech vaccine, which will begin to be distributed next week.
Fly Rolls Royce +6% on the rumor of the return to the production of narrow-body aircraft.
Negotiations on the post-Brexit deal have not yet reached a solid ground and could continue throughout the weekend. According to the United Kingdom, under growing French pressure, the EU has further hardened its position in the last few hours, especially on the question of state aid.
SPREAD AT THE MINIMUM FOR TWO AND A HALF YEARS
Well intoned the bond of our house. The spread of the Btp 10 on the Bund is stationary at 112 points, at its lowest for two and a half years, with the ten-year rate hovering around 0,56%-0,57%.
Purchases favor the long and extra-long end of the curve, primarily because they are among the few government bonds in the Eurozone that still guarantee a minimum return, but also in view of the probable cancellation of the medium- and long-term offer in mid-December . The performance of the thirty-year Italian is the best in all European benchmarks.
LEONARDO AT THE TOP: +50% IN ONE MONTH
Leonardo's march continues in Piazza Affari: +3,03%, best stock on the list (in the last month it recovered 50%). The share price was also increased by the decision of Marshall Wace, a London hedge fund, to reduce the bearish position on the stock from 1,79% to 1,65%, as learned from Consob communications relating to net positions court. The Italian aeronautical holding yesterday announced the delivery of the first twin-engine HH-139B helicopter destined for the Italian Air Force. This is the first of 17 HH-139s expected and the news has pushed the stock higher.
LUXURY SHINES BACK. TOD'S +4%
Luxury also stands out in Milan, as a source of encouraging data on China's recovery. Lead the Corsa Ferragamo (+3,09%). Sale Moncler (+2,1%) after breaking the technical threshold of 42 euros. Better Tod's, which recorded a leap of 4%, and Brunello Cucinelli (+2,8%), supported by the recovery of Chinese purchases. In retail, Ovs is running +4%.
Another stock in the rally is Prysmian: +0,57%. Kepler Cheuvreux has raised the target price to 30,6 euros from the previous 26,5 euros.
RISALE UNICREDIT, MPS COUNCIL ON DAY 17
Bank recovery in the afternoon. Unicredit (+1%) closed higher, far from a solid recovery after the collapse following the announcement of the departure of CEO Jean Pierre Mustier at the end of his mandate. The Mps affair "was not a source of disagreement" with the CEO of Unicredit Jean Pierre Mustier. To reiterate it, on Financial Timeswas Pier Carlo Padoan, designated president of the Milanese bank, speaking of the announced farewell of the managing director.
Positive Monte Paschi (+1,3%). The Sienese bank has announced the convocation of the board of directors for Thursday 17 December. On that occasion, the bank led by CEO Guido Bastianini will present and approve a new multi-year strategic plan. "The document, which constitutes the necessary prerequisite for starting discussions with DG Comp, will contain certain capital requirement scenarios consistent with the strategic plan hypotheses", reads a note issued by Rocca Salimbeni.
CASTAGNA (BPM) INSISTS: WE WILL BE THERE IN RISIKO
Intesa increased slightly (+0,3%). Banco Bpm also did well (+1,7%): the CEO Giuseppe Castagna underlined that "in a context in which we are absolutely in favor of a push towards consolidation, on the other hand today we feel ready to carry out another operation and we believe it is important to make the bank more efficient and provide better services. We need to create the conditions for having at least three banking groups that can participate in the European consolidation process in the future".
Little move Bper: the CEO Alessandro Vandelli believes that, before engaging in another M&A operation, the institute must digest the branches taken over by Ubi.
Mediobanca is up (+0,7%) after Leonardo Del Vecchio's Delfin increased its stake to around 11% after purchasing a total of 2 million shares on the market between 9 and 7,4 November, equal to 0,83 .9,3%. The Banca Imi broker remains "Buy" with a target price of XNUMX euros.
More ideas on Creval, up 1,7%, at 11,28 euros, well above the offer price of Credit Agricole at 10,5 euros.
TIM/MEDIASET: TESTS OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN VIVENDI, CDP AND BERLUSCONI
Diplomacies at work between Rome and Paris. In Telecom, in particular, Vivendi would like to lay the foundations with CDP (which owns 9,9% of the company) to form a common front in view of the renewal of the board of directors. On the Mediaset front, on the other hand, the French are moving their diplomacy to avoid amendments that modify the Gasparri law and which - like the one "save Mediaset" presented by the majority - penalize their position in society.
In Piazza Affari, Tim loses 0,73%: yesterday the managers of the main competitor companies expressed their perplexity about the fact that the company can hold control of the single network. Meanwhile, thanks to politics. The snake wakes up on the Stock Exchange: Mondadori (+3,6%) is in evidence as is Mediaset (+4,5%) and Mediaset Espana (+5%).
Atlantia +1,57%. The Court of Review of Genoa has revoked the house arrest of the former CEO of Autrostade Giovanni Castellucci, but underlined in the provision that from the investigations into his conduct emerges "a picture of total lack of scruples for the life and integrity of users of highways" to promote "a multifaceted and persistent corporate profit policy".
AIM: FRIULCHEM LAUNCHES NEW FEEDS
On Aim, money on Friulchem (+4,31%). The company has announced that it will begin marketing in Italy in the first half of 2021 its own line of feed additives used in the feeding of so-called livestock (for example, pigs, cattle, poultry).
