Table of Contents:
Current situation of European stock exchanges
The European stock exchanges closed the week colorlessly, but overall positive, despite the recent political turmoil in France. At Piazza Affari, the main index, the Ftse Mib, recorded a fractional increase of 0.36%, closing at 34,749.50 points.
This trend was supported by some stocks that showed remarkable performance, such as Moncler, which gained 5.4% after an upgrade to buy by Goldman Sachs, with a target price set at 58.7 euros.
Securities performance and economic data
Other stocks saw significant movements: Campari registered an increase of 3% after the announcement of the new CEO, while Tenaris fell by 3.1%, followed by Bper and Saipem, which closed at -2.7% and -2.2% respectively. In the United States, labor market data for November showed an increase in nonfarm payrolls to 227,000, slightly above expectations, but the unemployment rate rose unexpectedly to 4.2%, fueling speculation about a possible rate cut by the Federal Reserve at the next
meeting.
Future prospects and macroeconomic data
In Europe, German industrial production data showed a 1% decline in October, while third-quarter GDP confirmed growth of 0.4%. In Italy, retail sales registered a decrease of 0.5%. Next week, the last meeting of the European Central Bank in 2024 will take place, scheduled for Thursday, December 12. Investors will be particularly attentive to the US inflation data, expected on Wednesday, December 11, which could further influence interest rate expectations
.
Bond markets and commodities
In the bond market, the Btp-Bund spread remains stable at around 109 basis points, with the Italian 10-year yield at 3.2% and that of the German benchmark at 2.11%. As far as raw materials are concerned, the price of Brent oil fell to 71.3 dollars per barrel, after OPEC+ decided to postpone the increase in production for three months. Gold, on the other hand, is slightly below 2,640 dollars
an ounce.
Trend of currencies and cryptocurrencies
In the currency market, the euro/dollar exchange rate returned to 1.057 after temporarily exceeding 1.06 following the employment report. The dollar/yen fluctuates around 150. As far as cryptocurrencies are concerned, Bitcoin remains below 100,000 dollars after reaching an all-time high of 103,800 dollars yesterday. These developments indicate a climate of uncertainty and volatility, but also opportunities for alert investors
.
