Stock markets: a sizzling July amid soaring oil prices and the chip bubble. St and Prysmian plummet in Milan
The chip market euphoria is cooling; the first signs came from Taiwan, followed by Seoul and Tokyo. Brent is up 23 per cent for the month, whilst TTF gas in Amsterdam has surged by 35 per cent
Le ultime da Radiocor
Borsa: a luglio si sgonfia la bolla dei chip, Milano punisce St (-30%) e Prysmian (-17%)
Borsa: fiammata tech gia' spenta, Milano (+0,1%) tiene con le trimestrali
*** BTp: spread con Bund chiude stabile a 81 punti, rendimento sopra 4%
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – July has favoured Europe and its ‘old economy’ whilst curbing the dominance of the tech sector, with the chip bubble having deflated somewhat over the last four weeks. The mood of the month, however, is far from that of a calm market, with new highs, sharp corrections and rapid sector rotations. Whilst persistent uncertainties over the Middle East and oil remain, the epicentre of volatility has been the AI and semiconductor sectors. As early as the mid-month results from Taiwan’s TSMC, it was clear that the market had begun to wonder when investments in data centres and chips would translate into commensurate cash flows. The pressure then shifted to Asia, where South Korea’s KOSPI closed the month down 22.2 per cent, its worst monthly performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Tokyo also suffered heavy losses (-8.1 per cent).
In Europe, Milan ended July up 0.9 per cent (up 16.1 per cent year-to-date). Frankfurt (+2.5 per cent), Paris (+1.3 per cent), Amsterdam (+1.8 per cent) and Madrid (+1.6 per cent) all performed well. London, the least exposed to tech, was the best performer at +3.5%, hitting all-time highs partly thanks to the ‘Burnham effect’, the new Labour leader who has replaced the now-worn-out Starmer. On Wall Street, however, the Dow Jones remained largely unchanged, whilst the Nasdaq was down 4.2% at the time of writing, pending the final close.
Watch out for banks playing a risky game; oil companies are also performing well
Risiko was also the talk of the town in Milan, with interest in banking stocks reflected in share prices: the FTSE Italia All-Share Bank index is up 6 per cent since the start of July. Spurring the whole situation was the move by Intesa (+9.2%), which raised its bid in a joint venture with Unipol (+10.9%) for MPS (+6.5%), which in turn responded by forming an alliance with BPM (+4.4%), although Crédit Agricole – the Milanese bank’s main shareholder – has stated that it was not consulted on the deal and does not view it favourably. Not to mention Unicredit (+4.3%), with the Commerz battle now all but won and the German management having softened its stance. In Europe, among the Stoxx 600 sector indices, oil stocks performed well (+9.1%), whilst tech stocks trailed (-7.3%). The Stoxx 600 index as a whole rose by 1.2%.
St and Prysmian suffer a debacle on the Milan Stock Exchange
On the Milan Stock Exchange, Fincantieri is the top performer (+36.2%). Close behind is Amplifon (+28.2%), which also led the market in the previous session following better-than-expected results; Nexi follows at +19.8%. The market also rewarded Leonardo (+17.5%), whilst the rise in crude oil prices boosted Eni (+16.3%). Bringing up the rear this month is St (-29.2%, though still up 103% since the start of the year), followed by Prysmian at -17.7% (but up 39% since the start of 2026). On the Euro Stoxx 50, Wolters Kluwer (+20.3%) and SAP (+17.7%) show that buyers have not turned their backs on software. Bringing up the rear, however, were Infineon (-24.5%) and ASML (-16.7%), two of Europe’s leading chip stocks.
Brent up 23% in July; natural gas prices also surge
In the commodities market, Brent crude rose by 23.3% over the month to $89.9 per barrel; WTI rose by 21.9% to $85.8. TTF gas in Amsterdam jumped by 34.6 per cent to €58.9 per MWh. On the currency markets, the euro strengthened by 0.8 per cent against the dollar, rising from 1.1421 to 1.1515 following the Fed’s decision to hold rates steady.
