Subdued finale in Piazza Affari, expectations for core PCE USA and CPI EU

A day full of contrasts for the European stock markets, in a climate of anticipation for the most important events of the coming days. The Ftse Mib is losing 0.3% at 32,617 points, with Ferrari (+1.4%), Prysmian (+1.3%) and Brunello Cucinelli (+1.25%) at the top, while Nexi (+1 .25%) is losing ground by -3.5%. Campari (-3.4%) and Stm (-3.2%).

Tomorrow will see the release of the January core PCE, one of the metrics monitored by the Fed for its monetary policy decisions, while on Friday (in addition to the Chinese PMIs) the Eurozone consumer price report will be released for reading from the ECB’s perspective.

During the day, European economic confidence data was released, falling to 95.4 points in February, while in Italy consumer sentiment rose to 97 points and business sentiment fell to 95.8 points.

The second reading of US GDP in the fourth quarter revised growth from 3.3% to 3.2% on an annual basis, but the core quarterly consumer spending index recorded +2.1%, compared to +2% previously.

For bonds, the BTP Bund spread fluctuates around 143 basis points, with the yield on the ten-year Italian bond at 3.89% and that on the Bund at 2.46%. In Italy, the third day of the placement of the BTP Valore has now ended, with over 3 billion acceptances after the 11 billion in the first two days.

Among commodities, Brent oil settled around $82 a barrel after weekly U.S. inventory data from the Energy Information Administration showed a rise in crude oil reserves.

In the foreign exchange market, the euro/dollar exchange rate remained little changed at 1.083 and the dollar/yen rate rose to 150.75 yen per dollar.

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin rally continues unabated and has surpassed the $61,000 mark.