Stock markets: Europe slips from its highs. Milan down 0.2 per cent; WS sets new records but SpaceX falls

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - European stock markets fell from their highs at the close and ended the session mixed, whilst the market remains on tenterhooks awaiting news from the Middle East. Iran announced – just before the markets closed – that it had reached an agreement with Oman on a new route for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. “The geographical coordinates of the route agreed by the two parties have been approved,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, as quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

Thus, Milan’s FTSE MIB, after setting a new intraday record of 53,870 points, closed down 0.18%. The Frankfurt DAX (-0.3%) and the Amsterdam AEX (-0.1%) were also down, whilst the Paris CAC (+0.03%) was flat, whilst Madrid’s Ibex (+0.3%) and London’s FTSE 100 (+0.2%) held their ground.

Wall Street closed mixed, after the Dow Jones and the S&P set new record highs. At the close of trading, the Dow Jones was up 0.49% at 54,349.00 points, the Nasdaq fell by 0.83 per cent to 26,363.44 points and the S&P 500 dropped by 0.17 per cent to 7,723.41 points. Attention remains high on the artificial intelligence sector, which had driven gains for chipmakers the previous day. In the equity market, SpaceX shares fell sharply despite results that exceeded expectations. Elon Musk’s space company reported that its capital expenditure had increased sixfold, reaching $18.4 billion in the second quarter. This figure exceeded analysts’ expectations and has reignited concerns about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence sector.

Meanwhile, on the macroeconomic front, private sector employment in the US posted a positive figure in July, though it fell short of experts’ expectations. The services PMI rose to 54.6 points in July, exceeding expectations. The ISM Services Index, which measures the performance of the US services sector, rose from 54 to 54.1, marking the twenty-fifth consecutive month of expansion, whilst expectations had been for a reading of 54.5.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, Brunello Cucinelli rose to the top at the close, up 1.84 per cent, followed by MPS (up 1.64 per cent). Leonardo continues its upward trend (+1.54%), whilst Lottomatica Group (+1%) sees its gains narrow, having benefited from the strong performance of the gaming market. Among the banks, Unicredit (-0.68%) weakened during the session after a strong start, with BaFin (the German financial regulator) having given the green light for the bank led by Andrea Orcel to increase its stake in Germany’s Commerzbank to over 30 per cent. Inwit (-2.78%) also fell, slipping to the bottom of the table, as did Fincantieri (-2.27%). There was also selling pressure on STMicroelectronics (-1.59%). Outside the main index, Safilo (+6.3%) stood out following the release of its results the previous day, with analysts positive on the stock, whilst Tesmec (+17%) soared on the back of its half-year results.