European stock markets ended the day on a weak note. Wall Street closed mixed
The Italian stock market is keeping a close eye on the fate of MPS (+12.96%). Meanwhile, tech shares are rebounding on Wall Street. Oil and gas prices are rising following the tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Iran
by Chiara Di Michele and Giorgia Colucci
Key points
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The ‘fever’ surrounding the banking sector is buoying trading on the Milan Stock Exchange, which closes with the pink jersey up 0.6% in a session marked by weakness for the European stock markets. News from the Middle East continues to influence market sentiment and the price of oil, which is rising despite signs of de-escalation, with US President Donald Trump attempting to maintain a fragile ceasefire following the attacks between Iran and Israel. Investors’ attention also remains focused on macroeconomic data, ahead of the release of US inflation figures for May (Wednesday), following Friday’s strong labour market data, which fuelled fears of a Fed rate hike in the coming months.
Wall Street ends the day mixed
Wall Street failed to stage a rebound and closed mixed amid tensions in the Middle East between Israel and Iran, whilst Washington and Tehran attempt to find a way out of the negotiating deadlock: the Dow Jones fell by 0.16% to 50,786.01 points, whilst the Nasdaq recovered some of Friday’s losses (-4%) and rose by 0.86% to 25,929.66. The S&P 500 is also up, at 7,405.73 points (+0.30%).
On the Milan Stock Exchange, it was a day to remember for MPS (+12.96%) and Mediobanca (+11.98%) following the launch of the takeover bid by Intesa Sanpaolo (-1.37%) for the Siena-based bank, in agreement with Unipol (+4.5%) , which will take over 635 branches to be merged with Bper (+5.18%). The offer, which at Friday’s closing prices carried a premium of 12.5%, has now, following today’s movements, become a discount of 1.5%. Also on the table is the proposal announced yesterday by Banco Bpm (+0.83%) to carry out a merger of equals with Rocca Salimbeni, although no details have been provided. The wider wave of transactions also involves Generali (+2.8%), given that Mediobanca holds a 13% stake in the Trieste-based insurer and that, furthermore, Intesa has announced the purchase of approximately 3% of the share capital. Unicredit (-2%), grappling primarily with the bid for Commerzbank, closed in the red at the bottom of the list. Among other stocks, Stmicroelectronics (+4%) recovers in the wake of the rebound in tech stocks on Wall Street, following Friday’s slump.
Oil prices rise, euro at $1.15
The oil price surges again but then pulls back, whilst tensions in the Middle East are once again making themselves felt. The August contract for Brent stands at around $94 a barrel, after having touched $98 earlier in the morning; the equivalent WTI is currently trading at around $92. TTF gas is also on the rise, trading at over €49 per megawatt hour in Amsterdam. Spot gold is little changed at around $4,300 an ounce, whilst bitcoin is rebounding strongly to around $63,000, after hitting lows of $59,000 over the weekend. In the currency markets, the euro is trading at around $1.153.
The latest rise in oil prices was driven by a series of attacks between Israel and Iran, whilst the lack of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon remains the central issue. Missiles from Tehran were fired at northern Israel in response to IDF raids against Hezbollah, after which Israel struck military targets in western and central Iran. The US did not take part in the attacks on Iran, according to an American official.
