Piazza Affari is the best in Europe, Ftse Mib with +0.7%

European stock markets closed in no particular order, amid a climate of anticipation for the week’s key events. At Piazza Affari, the Ftse Mib closed up 0.7% at 33,146 points with purchases of utilities and energy sector securities. The best performers include A2a (+3.8%) and Saipem (+3.6%), while Moncler (-1.4%), Interpump (-1.3%) and STM (-1.15%) lag behind .

There are several ideas from today’s macroeconomic agenda. The final PMI and service sector composite indices for February signaled that the Eurozone economy is nearing stabilization thanks to the tertiary sector.

Producer prices in the Eurozone recorded a decrease of 0.9% on a monthly basis and -8.6% on a yearly basis, while Italy’s GDP confirmed a growth of 0.2% on a quarterly basis in the fourth quarter, changing to +0 on an annual basis, 6% increased.

In the USA, the ISM services index for February paints a mixed picture of the state of the most important economic sector. The main indicator disappointed expectations at 52.6 points, with positive signals from business activity and new orders, while the employment component points to the risk of job losses in the coming months.

The Chinese People’s Party congress began today, setting an annual growth target of 5%, while in the US it is Super Tuesday, an important date ahead of November’s presidential election.

Between tomorrow and Friday, focus on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony to the US Congress, which was intended to reiterate the lack of urgency to cut interest rates, the ECB meeting and US employment data.

For bonds, the BTP Bund spread narrows further to 138 basis points, with the Italian 10-year bond yield falling to 3.7% and the Bund yield falling to 2.32%.

Among raw materials, Brent oil is trading slightly in the red at $82.5 per barrel. In the forex market, the euro/dollar exchange rate remained little changed at 1.086 and the dollar/yen rate was above 150 yen per dollar.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is trading lower at $64,800, moving away from the all-time high of $68,991 reached in the last few hours.