Stock exchanges ignore chaos in Hormuz: Wall Street hits new record highs, Piazza Affari boosted by Unicredit

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Numerous better-than-expected quarterly reports, both in the States and on the Old Continent, and hopes that the Strait of Hormuz will soon be opened supported the financial markets. Thus, overseas the Nasdaq Composite updated a new intraday record and in Europe, the main indices closed on a brisk rise, with Milan boasting the best performance driven mainly by Unicredit: the Ftse Mib rose 2.27%. On the 67th day of the war in Iran, investors are convinced that a solution will soon be found to reopen the passages in the Strait of Hormuz, helped by the 'Project Freedom' operation launched yesterday by US President Donald Trump to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Strait. However, the situation is fluid and tensions have flared up again, especially as both Tehran and Washington claim to be in control of the important trade crossroads. For example, theDanish freight giant Maersk announced that one of its ships successfully crossed the channel yesterday under US escort. However, the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, wrote on X that 'Project Freedom is a dead project'. Crude oil, however, is slowing down: the wti reversing 4% to the $102 per barrel area.

Wall Street closed towards record highs after easing oil prices allowed the stock market to turn its attention back to the huge profits that companies continue to generate. The Dow Jones gained 0.73 per cent, the S&P 500 0.82 per cent and the Nasdaq 1.03 per cent.

Stocks received a boost after oil prices gave up some of the strong gains recorded on Monday. The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.7% to $110.19 after briefly exceeding $115 on Monday, although it is still well above the price of around $70 recorded before the war with Iran. DuPont's stock rose 7.6 per cent after the chemical giant led another string of companies that reported higher-than-expected profits for the latest quarter. DuPont said that its water technology division was partly affected by the war due to logistical disruptions in the Middle East. Nevertheless, it revised its forecast for full-year financial results upward.

The Ftse Mib index of Piazza Affari updated new highs since autumn 2000, rising to 48,577 points. The index was pushed up by bank stocks and some blue chips, such as Prysmian, which surged 10.5 per cent on the words of CEO Massimo Battaini on possible new M&A operations in the US. Shocking the banking sector was Unicredit, which gained more than 5% on the day of the publication of its better-than-expected quarterly report. The Piazza Gae Aulenti-based bank closed the first three months of 2026 with a net profit of €3.2 billion, up 16.1% on the same period in 2025 and around 20% higher than the consensus forecast of €2.675 billion. This is, UniCredit claimed in a note, the "21st consecutive quarter of profitable growth" and the "best quarter ever", with "records across all major lines". The bank also revised upwards its estimates for 2026, forecasting a profit of 11 billion or more. Andrea Orcel, Unicredit's CEO, also commented on the bank's position in Commerzbank, on the day when the takeover bid on the institution, whose share has meanwhile risen to 35.55% of the capital, is due to start. He reiterated that, whichever way the offer goes, it will be a success for UniCredit's shareholders: 'If we stay below the control threshold, hopefully above 30% but under control, the financial returns would be exceptional, well above 20%', while if the Italia institution gains control, 'which is not the expected scenario at the moment, what we would do is very clear and I think it would be very positive'.

Banks gained ground Banca Monte Paschi Siena (+3.6%), Mediobanca (+3%) and Bper Banca (+2.6%). The shares of Banco Bpm, on the other hand, advanced just over 1% on the day the bank announced that it had closed the first quarter with a net profit of €480m, down 6.1% compared to the same period in 2025. However, the bank's top management pointed out that the numbers, an improvement on the previous quarter, were above expectations and that the net result was 'in line with plan targets'. Among the shares of the largest-capitalisation companies, Diasorin rose 4% after the appointment of Gabriele Allegri as president of the Immunodiagnostics division. On the other hand, Ferrari lost 3.95%, on the day of the quarterly report, even though revenues rose slightly and CEO Benedetto Vigna confirmed year-end guidance.