Stock exchanges, brilliant week with truce in Iran. Milan (+4.3%) tops since 2000

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - European stock exchanges closed a "short week" on the back of the Easter holiday, the keystone of which was the announcement of the truce in Iran ahead of the peace talks that will start tomorrow. The rally by the stock markets on Wednesday thus enabled the eighth week to end on a positive note, despite doubts about the durability of the ceasefire and the progress of the negotiations. The pink jersey went to Piazza Affari, where the Ftse Mib soared 4.3% bringing the balance since the beginning of the year to +5.9%. Paris (+3.7%), Madrid (+3.7%), Frankfurt (+3%) and London (+1.6%) followed, while the Eurostoxx 50 rose 4%. Purchases were led by the banking sector (+6.5% the Stoxx sub-index), while the only sector with a weekly balance sheet in the red was the energy sector (-0.6%), hit by sell-offs due to the slowdown in oil prices.

The Greece, on the other hand, recorded a 10.8% drop in the week for Wti and 11.3% for Brent. Natural gas also fell sharply, retracing 11.7% in Amsterdam. Returning to Milan equities, the best performers were StMicroelectronics (+16.5%), Prysmian (+14.4%), Buzzi (+9.7%), UniCredit (+9.4%) and Mediobanca (+9.3%). Realizations instead on defence, with Leonardo down 9.6%, partly due to doubts over the change in governance, and Avio down 3.9%. Also in the red were Eni (-3%), Recordati (-2.3%) and Diasorin (-0.9%). Among the European biggies, Siemens (+11.7%), Schneider Electric (+10.2%), Infineon (+9.9%) and Asml (+9.4%) stood out. Rheinmetall (-6.8%), Sap (-6.4%) and Wolters Kluwer (-4%) performed poorly. Spot gold was up 1.8%, Bitcoin up 8.6%. Finally, the spread between BTp and Bund fell by eight points to 78 points from 86 last Friday.

The European stock exchanges close Friday's session with cautious optimism and bet on the holding of the truce between Washington and Tehran, on the eve of the start of negotiations in Pakistan. However, deep divisions remain, starting with the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran wants under its control allowing only 15 ships a day to pass through. The possibility of transit tolls also hangs over the thorny issue of Iranian uranium enrichment. The fragile ceasefire keeps the price of oil below 100 dollars a barrel, while the expected rise in US inflation in March did not exceed analysts' forecasts. Wall Street also moved up cautiously, with the S&P 500 heading for its best week since May.

Thus, at the end of the last session of the week, Milan (+0.59%) posted a good rise, regaining its highest level since November 2000 at 47,609 points. Paris (+0.2%), Madrid (+0.5%) and Amsterdam (+0.5%) also did well, while Frankfurt was stable. President Trump also returned to attacking Tehran, calling the blockade of cross-strait oil 'embarrassing': 'this is not the deal we have,' the tycoon wrote on the social Truth. Against this backdrop, oil is slowing down but not stopping, with the Brent rising slightly to around 96 dollars per barrel and Wti rising to 98 dollars. Gas in Amsterdam, on the other hand, fell sharply below EUR 44 per megawatt-hour.

Wall Street closed mixed. The Dow Jones gave up 0.56 per cent to 47,916.57 points, the Nasdaq gained 0.35 per cent to 22,902.89 points and the S&P 500 dropped 0.11 per cent to 6,816.89 points