EU stock exchanges try to overcome AI fears. Milan +0.7% with Tim and banks

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - TheEuropean stock exchanges closed the session on a positive note and distanced themselves from the caution of Wall Street, where fears about the possible fallout from artificial intelligence have not been dispelled. Proof of this is the drop in the tech sector. Concerns about which sector may be the next victim of AI-related transformations keep investors on the alert. "The recent downturn in the software sector marks a dramatic shift in the artificial intelligence narrative. Just a few months ago, the market was wondering whether AI was really a reality. Today it is perceived as an active threat to many business models. We believe that the hunt to distinguish winners and losers reinforces the huge phase of investment in AI and the race to take on debt to finance it,' point out the experts at Blackrock.

In this context, Milan was one of the best performers, up 0.7%. Paris closed at +0.5% and Frankfurt at +0.8%. London was also positive at +0.7%, Madrid at +0.6% and Amsterdam at +0.2%. Meanwhile, traders continue to wonder about the Federal Reserve's next moves after last Friday's inflation figure raised hopes of more interest rate cuts, ahead of the publication (Wednesday evening) of the minutes of the January Fed meeting. In the background, geopolitical tensions remain and eyes are turned to the second round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States in Geneva.

Wall Street closed positive. The Dow Jones gained 0.07 per cent to 49,533.19 points, the Nasdaq rose 0.14 per cent to 22,578.38 points and the S&P 500 advanced 0.10 per cent to 6,843.24 points. Dominating the trading were once again the sector's biggies: Tesla moved lower, while Nvidia Corp and Amazon, in an uncertain session that saw some chipmakers such as Amd retreat after strong gains since the start of the year. On the upside was Warner Bros Discovery after Netflix agreed to a seven-day extension for the acquisition. A decision that reopens negotiations for a deal with Paramount Skydance.

The market is coming off a string of difficult weeks: the S&P 500 is coming off its second consecutive decline, the Dow Jones has closed down for four weeks in the last five and the Nasdaq has slipped into its longest negative streak since 2022. Investors are now waiting for the personal consumption expenditure figure on Friday for more information on inflation trends.

At Piazza Affari, purchases were largely driven by banks, in particular Mediobanca (+2.3%), Unicredit (+2%) and Banca Mps (+2.1%), among the best on the list. Indeed, investors are positioning themselves in anticipation of Monte's plan, which will be presented on 27 February and from which more clarity should emerge on the fate of the Milanese bank. Also at stake is the possible delisting, as originally envisaged in the Lovaglio plan. Utilities rebounded, with Italgas (+2.1%) - pushed to an all-time high above 11 euro by a positive report from Berenberg - and Terna (+0.9%) above 10 euro per share for the first time in the group's history, with a capitalisation of over 20 billion euro. There was also a buying session for the tlc sector, with Tim (+3.1%) announcing aprice increase of up to five euro per month forsome fixed-line customers from 1 April. Inwit (+1.7%) also did well, as did Nexi (+2.3%) after the exit of the Advent and Bain funds from the capital. On the opposite front, defence was down, with Leonardo (-1%) and Fincantieri (-3.4%) suffering from the generalised benefit taking on the sector in Europe. Prysmian (-0.5%) paid for Berenberg's downgrade, while there was widespread selling on Diasorin (-6.7%) .