Stock exchanges in free-fall: Milan black jersey (-6.2%) burns 80 billion. Tim and Unicredit at peak
Black Friday for the stock exchanges and in particular for Piazza Affari which lost 5% in the wake of the collapse of Tim and the banks – Euro increasingly weaker against the dollar
The nuclear specter and the arrival of new sanctions, in a war whose end for now is not in sight, knock out the European stock exchanges and determine the negative start of Wall Street.
As Russia unleashes new attacks on Ukraine and takes control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, investors flee equities and quickly search for assets that back their money like gold, T-Bonds, and Bunds. , dollar. The sanctions (and those that are being prepared) meanwhile cause the prices of raw materials to skyrocket: gas, oil, wheat.
At first, the markets were frightened by a fire that broke out in the building used for the training of the nuclear power plant personnel and despite the fact that the fire was put out and the power plant was not touched by the flames, the climate on the markets has changed. made progressively more incandescent.
Bags in free fall: the lowest in a year
The week thus ends in the worst way for Piazza Affari, which drops 6.24 and falls to 22,464 points, at the end of a session with Telecom and the banks in free fall. The main Milanese stock market, since the war began, has lost more than 10%.
The picture is no better in the rest of Europe, where the lists are falling back to a year’s lows, weighed down above all by the securities of credit institutions and the auto sector. The volatility index in the eurozone rises to 45 points for the first time since June 2020. The final photo sees Paris lose 4.97%, then Amsterdam -4.78%, Frankfurt -4.39%, Madrid -3 , 68%, London -3.59%.
Moscow was closed for the fifth consecutive day, a record, and is not expected to reopen until March 8. Meanwhile, after the cut in the rating by Fitch and Moody, there is also the scissoring of S&P which today evaluates Russia “CCC-“, kept in CreditWatch Negative, due to the growing default risk.
The situation, among other things, seems destined to worsen for the Russian economy, but also for the rest of the world after the G7 of foreign ministers revealed that it is necessary to tighten sanctions against Moscow. And Putin warns: “If you do, the situation will get worse.”
In the US and UK, pressure is also growing to hit the Russian oil and gas sector directly in order to prevent export revenues from balancing, even partially, the damage of the sanctions decided so far. This is a very sensitive issue for half of Europe and in particular for Italy, which largely depends on these supplies.
Piazza Affari in very black jersey
The global picture folds Piazza Affari, which loses most of all. Telecom, after yesterday’s blow, fell by a further 15.56%, hitting an all-time low.
Banks were also sold out, starting with Unicredit, -14.6%, the most exposed to the Russian market. The balance is heavy for Bper -10.58%; Intesa -9.01%; Banco Bpm -8.68%; Mediobanca -8.4%. Among the ten worst blue chips of the day also Unipol -8.23%; Iveco -7.85%; Banca Generali -7.74%; Stellantis -7.61%.
On the Ftse Mib, there is not even action with a plus sign.
Outside the main basket, realizations on Gas Plus continue, -19.71%.
Bags in free-fall: raw materials skyrocketing
The chronicle of the prices of raw materials is of a completely different nature.
Gas flies higher and higher, updating record values in Europe. On the Ttf platform, the contract expiring in April rose to 202.4 euros per megawatt-hour, up by 25.8% compared to yesterday’s closing.
The May deadline moved to the same extent to 196 euros per megawatt-hour. During the day yesterday, prices had touched the level of 200 euros, now broken through with the continuous worsening of the Ukrainian crisis.
Oil surges further, driven by fears of a possible blockade of Russian exports which would compensate for the return of Iranian supplies in the event of an agreement with Tehran. Moscow is the world’s largest exporter of crude oil and petroleum products combined.
Brent and WTI futures are up: + 3.92% the former at 114.79 dollars a barrel; + 4.5% the second $ 112.51 a barrel. In this period we are witnessing an escalation of price increases that had not been seen since the oil crisis of 1974.
Purchases are poured into gold: spot gold is currently moving at 1956.87 dollars an ounce, with an increase of more than 1%. They also fly palladium, platinum, silver.
Wheat hit the record price of 400 euros per ton on the Paris stock exchange in the session, gaining 38% in one week. Corn in Chicago rose 3.31% to $ 773 per bushel (bushel); wheat + 6.52% to $ 1,225.25 per bushel.
The euro is shaking and the prices of T-Bonds and Bunds are rising
The situation does not encourage purchases on the euro, which is falling to its lows since 2020 and treats ever closer to parity against the dollar, which now only has to “spend” 1.09 for a single currency.
The greenback index gains nearly 1%.
The bull, on the run from stocks, seeks shelter in bonds. In particular, the prices of T-Bonds and Bunds are rising.
US bond prices are up and yields are down despite the strong February employment report providing more arguments for the Fed to hike rates.
The 10-year Treasury shows a yield of 1.70%, down 7.53% from yesterday’s close.
Last month 678,000 jobs were created in the US (excluding the agricultural sector) against much lower expectations. Unemployment fell from 4% to 3.8%, the best figure since the start of the pandemic, against expectations for a drop to 3.9%. In short, the job doesn’t seem to offer any loopholes for Jerome Powell, although the average hourly wage has remained unchanged.
In Europe, the benchmark ten-year Bund yield turns negative (-0.1%). The Italian secondary closed in the red, with the spread at 162 basis points (+ 3.71%) and a 10-year BTP rate of + 1.53%, unchanged from the previous day.
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