Trend of European stock exchanges
The European stock exchanges showed low movements, with the Ftse Mib in Piazza Affari closing up 0.5%, reaching 34,400 points. Among the best performing securities, Stm gained 2.5%, followed by Bper with an increase of 1.4% and Unicredit, which saw an increase of 1.3%.
On the contrary, Moncler recorded a decrease of 1.6%, together with Generali and Hera, both down 1.2%.
Expectations for the Federal Reserve
Investors’ focus is currently on the Federal Reserve, which is expected to announce a rate cut of 25 basis points.
Analysts are particularly interested in updating the dot plot, the graph that shows officials’ projections of the cost of money, and in President Powell‘s statements, which could provide guidance on future monetary policies, especially for 2025.
The other central banks
Tomorrow, the focus will shift to the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan. The British bank is expected to keep the cost of money unchanged, even in view of recent inflation data, which were higher than expected. As for the Japanese central bank, it is unlikely that there will be an increase in rates, given the current economic environment
.
Bond markets and commodities
In the bond market, the Btp-Bund spread is around 116 basis points, with the Italian 10-year yield at 3.4% and that of the German benchmark at 2.24%. On the commodities front, Brent oil topped 74 dollars a barrel, while gold slipped below 2,640 dollars an ounce
.
Forex and cryptocurrency trends
In the currency market, the euro/dollar exchange rate fell to 1.048, while the dollar/yen fluctuated around 154, waiting for the BoJ meeting on Thursday. As far as cryptocurrencies are concerned, Bitcoin stands at close to 104,000 dollars
.
News in the aviation and technological sector
In the air sector, ITA Airways and Icelandair have signed a codeshare agreement to improve connectivity between Rome and Reykjavik, offering customers new travel opportunities. In addition, Accenture announced its intention to acquire the IQT Group, which specializes in engineering services for infrastructure projects, combining Accenture’s digital expertise with the IQT Group’s
experience.