European stock markets close slightly higher, while London continues to outperform, ending the day with a good gain. Investors’ attention is on the quarterly reports, which are also coming to life in Europe. This morning, Eni announced an increase in its buyback program by 20% after better-than-expected third quarter results, Natwest reported a 30% increase in third quarter profits and improved its performance target for the year, Sanofi announced third quarter profit above analysts’ expectations.
Today’s news
On the macroeconomic front, the highlight was the release of US inflation: US consumer prices rose slightly less than expected in September, helping to keep the Federal Reserve on track for a further interest rate cut next week. In the Eurozone in October the flash PMIs surprised on the upside: the manufacturing indicator rose to 50 (against expectations of stability at 49.8), that of services to 52.6 (against expectations of a marginal decline to 51.2) and the composite one to 52.2 (against expectations of a marginal decline to 51.1).
Also new on Donald Trump’s moves: the White House has confirmed that the US president will meet with President Xi Jinping next week, in view of an imminent deadline for the imposition of further US tariffs of 100% on Chinese imports; furthermore, Trump declared that he would immediately terminate all trade negotiations with Canada, citing a Canadian advertisement against his tariff plan that featured the voice of former President Ronald Reagan.
European price lists
Among the European stock markets, Frankfurt is essentially unchanged, reporting a moderate +0.13%, while London is making progress, recording an increase of 0.70%, and Paris remains close to parity (0%).
The Milanese stock exchange showed a modest gain at the end, with the FTSE MIB posting a +0.25%; along the same lines, the FTSE Italia All-Share makes a small leap forward of 0.22%, reaching 45,119 points. The FTSE Italia Mid Cap showed fractional progress (+0.37%); on the same line, the FTSE Italia Star is just above parity (+0.34%).
The titles in Milan
Among the best performers in Milan, Lottomatica (+2.68%), Stellantis (+2.34%), Banca Popolare di Sondrio (+2.14%) and BPER (+2.07%) stand out. The strongest sales, however, hit Saipem, which ended trading at -4.08%. Sales on Unicredit, which recorded a decline of 1.67%. Negative session for STMicroelectronics, which shows a loss of 1.58%. Slow day for Tenaris, which recorded a decline of 1.08%.
At the top of the ranking of mid-cap stocks in Milan, Ferragamo (+13.32%), Ferretti (+6.86%), Comer Industries (+3.93%) and Maire (+2.94%). The worst performances, however, were recorded on Safilo, which closed at -5.93%. LU-VE Group is under pressure, suffering a decline of 1.61%. Cembre slips, with a clear disadvantage of 1.58%. Small loss for Banca Ifis, which trades at -1.43%.
Central banks
The Fed will likely reduce its rate target range by 25 basis points to 3.75-4.00% at the end of its two-day meeting on October 29. Speaking shortly before the pre-meeting blackout, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that “the outlook for employment and inflation does not appear to have changed much since our September meeting.”
Next week’s ECB meeting is likely to be relatively calm, as the Governing Council remains in wait-and-see mode. Data published after the September meeting largely confirmed the ECB’s baseline scenario, indicating weak but positive economic growth and inflation close to target.
The Bank of Canada could cut rates again by 25 basis points on Wednesday, to 2.25%, but the move is uncertain. The Bank of Japan will likely remain on hold Thursday, with rates at 0.50%, awaiting the new government’s first fiscal policy decisions.
The new BTP Value
Small Italian savers have shown solid interest in the latest placement of the BTP Valore, causing the Treasury to raise 16.6 billion euros from the October 2032 bond dedicated to retail. Demand from families and non-financial businesses proved to be higher than that of the last two offers dedicated to retail this year: the bar stopped at 14.9 billion for the eight-year BTP Più in February and 6.53 billion for the BTP Italia in May. No surprises from the MEF at the end of the placement: the definitive annual rates of the security were confirmed at the level announced last 17 October: 2.60% for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year; 3.10% for the 4th and 5th; 4% for the 6th and 7th year.
