Milan accelerates (+1.68%), rally by Saipem and Eni-Corriere.it

European markets are off to a good start today, March 17th. Piazza Affari accelerates in the first half hour of trading, with the Ftse Mib index up 1.68% to 26,351 points, driven by the rally of Saipem (+5.01%), Eni (+4.23%) and Tenaris (+3.6%) after the increase in Morgan Stanley’s recommendation on the energy engineering group and the energy sector in general. Enel (+1.89%), A2a (+1.46%) also rose in the aftermath of the accounts and after the start of the exclusive right to take over Egea. Purchases also on Snam (+1%), while Erg is more cautious (+0.74%). On the banking front, the solution proposed for Credit Suisse (+0.69% in Zurich) pushes Banco Bpm (+2.63%), Unicredit and Intesa (+2.35% both) and Bper (+1.95%) , Mps is more cautious (+0.78%). Purchases on Cnh (+1.69%) and Stellantis (+1.55%), weak Campari and Mfe B (both -0.92%), cautious Moncler (-0.33%), flat Tim (-0 ,03%) (here the price lists in real time). Therefore, the rescue plan of First Republic Bank in the United States, with the involvement of eleven institutions that will deposit 30 billion dollars as a sign of confidence in the solidity of the banking system, keeps investors’ fears at bay and, after supporting the indices of Wall Street, gives breathing space to Asian and European stock markets, which will try to consolidate the rebound on the eve. However, the continental stock exchanges will hardly be able to avoid closing the week with a negative balance, due to the turmoil following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and doubts about the stability of Credit Suisse. Meanwhile, Europe is off to a good start today, 17 March: Milan and Paris +0.9%.

The spread

Spreads slightly down this morning at the start, after the ECB’s decision to raise rates by 50 basis points. The yield differential between the Italian 10-year BTP and the same German maturity marks 187 basis points from 189 points at yesterday’s close. The yield of the Italian ten-year BTP trades at 4.14% from 4.11% of the levels recorded on the eve (here the spread in real time).

Asian Stock Exchanges

Optimism has returned to the main stock exchanges in Asia and the Pacific after the storm involving banks following the cases of SWB and First Republic Bank in the USA and Credit Suisse in Switzerland. Tokyo gained 1.2%, Shanghai 0.8%, Taiwan 1.52%, Seoul 0.75% and Sydney 0.42%. Hong Kong (+1.51%), Mumbai (-0.1%) and Singapore (+0.58%) are still open. Futures on Europe and on Wall Street are positive. The final reading on inflation is coming from the Eurozone in February and the month-on-month industrial production expected to rise from the USA, together with the University of Michigan index, expected unchanged . Crude oil (Wti +0.5% to 68.69 dollars a barrel) and natural gas (+1.25% to 44.9 euros per MWh), together with gold (+0.35% to 1,929 .51 dollars an ounce). The dollar fell to 0.937 euros, 133.1 yen and 0.821 pounds. On the Tokyo market, purchases on semiconductor producers Tokyo Electron (+2.92%), Advantest (+3.32%) and Sumco (+1.48%). Positive banks Nomura (+0.98%) and Mizhuo Financial group (+1.96%) after the improvement on the banking crises in the US and Switzerland.

What to expect from the day on the stock exchange

During the session, volatility will be amplified by the so-called three witches, the quarterly expiry of futures on indices and options on indices and shares. On bonds, the rise in government bond yields continues, while the effect of the flight to quality of the first part of the week is being absorbed. On the foreign exchange market, the euro strengthened after yesterday the ECB raised rates by another 50 basis points: the single currency is worth 1.0663 dollars from 1.0612 yesterday at the close and is also indicated at 141.89 yen (141. 33), while the dollar/yen ratio was 133.04 (133.00). The price of oil rose moderately: the WTI on the April contract rose by 0.47% to 68.67 dollars a barrel, while the May delivery on Brent gained 0.46% to 75.04 dollars. The price of natural gas on the TTF platform in Amsterdam rose by 1.3% to 44.9 euros per megawatt hour.