Positive week amidst the tech race and winds of peace, Avio outperforms in Milan (+20%)

Wall Street closed positive. The Dow Jones climbed 0.58 per cent to 50,579.70 points, the Nasdaq advanced 0.19 per cent to 26,343.97 points, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.37 per cent to 7,473.45 points. Earlier in the day, the most anticipated event was at the White House, where Kevin Warsh was sworn in as the new Federal Reserve chairman, succeeding Jerome Powell. Meanwhile on the data front, US consumer confidence fell to an all-time low: in May's final reading it stood at 44.8 points, down from 49.8 points in the previous month, against estimates for a figure of 48.2 points. The war in Iran and rising oil prices weighed heavily. On equities, the stock of Workday rose after the finance and human resources software provider posted better-than-expected results and revised up its full-year margin forecast. Merck is up after the lung cancer treatment, developed by the pharmaceutical company in partnership with China's Kelun-Biotech, reduced the risk of tumour progression by 65 per cent, according to a phase 3 study.

Stellantis rebounds in Piazza Affari

At Piazza Affari Stellantis (+5.2%) is among the best stocks on the list in the wake of the performance of Asian tech, again on the statements of Nvidia founder Jewnsen Huang, who spoke of an 'extraordinary acceleration' of AI-related infrastructure projects for the months to come. Stellantis (+3.2%) rebounded after slipping on the eve of the day when the CEO, Antonio Filosa, presented the 60 billion investment business plan. The run of Avio (+5.8%) did not stop, benefiting from the long wave of the imminent SpaceX listing, even though the company is active in the production of space thrusters and not satellites. Recordati (-0.8%) is under the microscope on the day of the official announcement of the takeover bid launched on the company and aimed at delisting it. As already announced in March, Cvc and Gbl have launched a full takeover bid at EUR 51.29 per share, bringing a total of EUR 10.7 billion to the table. Amplifon (-2.4%) also took a downward path after taking 45.3 million new shares issued in a capital increase. Oil stocks were weak.

Investors' caution is also clear from the performance of the value of oil, which continues to rise. Also going down is gold. Government bond rates limned slightly, but remained at high levels, while the spread between Btp and Bund dropped to 73 points. On the other hand, investors fear that the world's central banks will eventually raise the level of interest rates, in order to cool down inflation, which is continuing to rise, as shown by the latest data. However, this price index is driven more by the rise in the value of energy caused by the war in the Middle East than anything else, and so many economists warn that a monetary tightening could only choke economic growth.

On the currency, the euro hovers nervously around the $1.16 mark ($1.1586 at eve's close). The quid that moves the currency market remains the prediction of central banks' moves, on the day Kevin Warsh is sworn in as Federal Reserve Chairman in front of President Trump. Meanwhile, experts are betting that the Central Bank of Japan will raise rates in June (now the benchmark interest rate stands at 0.75 per cent), supporting the yen in the coming months.