Stock markets get a fresh boost amid US-China optimism and a 4.5 per cent fall in WTI crude oil prices – Milan closes up 1.6 per cent, with Wall Street performing well

The intensive eight-hour talks in New York between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Deputy Prime Minister He Lifeng have concluded with a ‘very positive’ outcome. The marathon summit, hosted the day before at the headquarters of JPMorgan Chase, laid the operational groundwork ahead of the crucial summit scheduled for Thursday in Washington between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The visit was confirmed by Beijing itself in an official statement. “We have just concluded a highly successful meeting,” said Bessent. “We discussed the creation of a mutual notification mechanism for security incidents and threats. It will be called the ‘US-China AI Dialogue’ and we have agreed to meet again,” he added.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, tech shares were in the spotlight, with St (+3%) among the top performers on the market, as was Prysmian (+3%) and Technoprobe (+5.3%), which celebrated a triumphant debut on the main Milanese index in place of Diasorin (+1.7%). Banks also performed well, buoyed by the figures released by France’s Société Générale (+2.2% in Paris) on the day it unveiled its plan for 2029.

Leading the sector’s gains is Banco BPM (+4.3 per cent), buoyed in part by rumours that Unicredit (+3.2 per cent) and Crédit Agricole (+0.1% in Paris) are exploring the possibility of a joint bid for Piazza Meda. Among the few losers of the day was Poste (-0.8%), whose takeover bid for TIM (+0.4%) resumes until Friday 25th. Some oil companies also saw losses, in the wake of falls in crude oil prices: Eni -0.9 per cent, Tenaris -0.3 per cent.

Brent is heading for its longest run of falls since June. Traders continue to monitor diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between Iran and the United States. Trump has said he would be ‘probably’ willing to meet his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Oil prices closed sharply lower in New York amid hopes of a resumption of diplomatic efforts to end the war that broke out in late February between the US and Iran: WTI, the US benchmark, fell by 4.50 per cent to $95.79 per barrel, whilst Brent, the international benchmark, dropped by 3.47 per cent to $100.27.

Gas prices are also falling, standing at 73 euros per megawatt-hour in Amsterdam. On the currency front, the euro is trading at 1.1468 dollars, similar to Friday’s close (1.1468). The spread between BTp and Bund bonds has narrowed to 88 basis points, down from 92 basis points at Friday’s close. In the yield on the benchmark 10-year BTP has also fallen sharply to 4.33 per cent, from 4.44 per cent at the previous close. The German 10-year bond has fallen to 3.45 per cent, whilst the US Treasury yield remains around 4.96 per cent.