Stock exchanges, Trump threats on tariffs do not scare Europe. Positive week, Milan +1.7%

Wall Street closed weak on rumours of Donald Trump's tariffs on the European Union. The Dow Jones lost 0.32 per cent to 44,342.19 points, the Nasdaq rose 0.05 per cent to 20,895.66 points while the S&P 500 gave up 0.01 per cent to 6,296.79 points. The eve's macroeconomic data on sales and unemployment benefits, coupled with the improvement in consumer confidence (recorded by the University of Michigan), do not suggest a rapid cut in interest rates. Stocks fell sharply Netflix , despite beating second-quarter budget expectations and especially improving forecasts for the year. The streamong giant reported earnings of $3.13 billion, up 46% to $7.19 earnings per share. The average estimate of 11 analysts tracked by Zacks Investment Research was $7.07 per share in earnings.

On the Milan stock exchange, the Iveco Group took the lead after rumours of a possible sale by Exor . More focus on the banking risiko, as the back-and-forth between the Caltagirone group and Mediobanca in relation to the takeover bid launched by Banca Mps on the Milan-based institution. The shares of Unicredit and Banco Bpm, while waiting to understand whether Consob will once again freeze the ops (which will close on 23 July), considering the uncertainty caused by Brussels' letter to the Italian government, with criticism of the exercise of golden power. From the receipt of the missive, Palazzo Chigi has 20 days to clarify its move. Purchases on Moncler and Brunello Cucinelli after theBritish Burberryreported that comparable shop sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 (as of 28 June 2025) were down 1 per cent (compared to the -3 per cent indicated by analysts). Slipping to the bottom of the list Stellantis on the day of the shareholders' meeting, which confirmed Antonio Filosa as the group's chief executive officer and executive director.

The rumours of a possible sale gave wings to Iveco Group's stock, which closed 8.32% higher at €16.6 per share on the Italian Stock Exchange. The stock, which had also risen above €18 in May (intraday high of €18.1), has gained over 80% since the beginning of the year, first buoyed by interest in defence activities and now by rumours that the Agnelli family is in negotiations for a possible sale, with Tata Motors indicated as one of the potential buyers for the company that produces trucks and commercial vehicles (Exor has reportedly begun discussions with more than one counterparty, in any case non-European). The Indian group has reportedly come forward with Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli-Elkann family, to take over the controlling stake in Iveco Group, but the sale would not include Idv, i.e. the defence business. Although the official position of Exor and Iveco is a dry 'no comment', the sale of the company could make sense. In fact, according to some market analysts, a 'lighter' Iveco, i.e. without the defence activities for which the spin-off or sale project is proceeding (with interest from Leonardo and Germany's Rheinmetall), could be interesting and more 'approachable' for the Indian group. Such an operation, if successful, could represent an expansion opportunity for Iveco.

On the foreign exchange front the euro climbed up the slope against the greenback, moving into the $1.16 area. The single currency is worth nearly 173 yen while the dollar-yen cross crosses the 148 mark. Oil weakened with North Sea Brent under 70 dollars a barrel and Wti in the 67 dollar area. Gas lost more than two percentage points at EUR 33.7 per megawatt hour on the Amsterdam platform.

Awaiting the signing of the Genius Act, the first law that will regulate the crypto market, most of the major digital currencies are up considerably during Friday morning trading with Dogecoin gaining over 11% to $0.235, Ethereum up 4.36% to $3,562.50, and Cardano up 3.2% to $0.82. The only decline was Bitcoin, which lost 0.9% to $117,883. On the corporate front however Coinbase, the crypto exchange is up 12.8%.

The spread between the BTp and Bund rose fractionally at the close of the session. At the close of trading, the yield differential between the benchmark ten-year BTp and the German ten-year peer was indicated at 89 basis points, one more than the eve's closing. The yield on the benchmark ten-year BTp also closed higher, at 3.58 per cent from 3.56 per cent yesterday.