Stock exchanges, Europe positive as crude oil slows. Milan best on the back of Unicredit

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The European stock markets are moving under the banner of cautious optimism, with the war in the Middle East coming back into focus. Mixed news comes from the conflict: the US claims to have opened a corridor in the Strait of Hormuz for the safe passage of ships in line with Project freedom launched by President Donald Trump. Danish freight giant Maersk also announced that one of its ships successfully crossed the channel under US escort yesterday. In contrast, Tehran denies and claims to have attacked the US units. "Project Freedom is a dead project," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X.In contrast, Tehran denies and claims to have attacked the US units. "A new flare-up in the Persian Gulf has shattered confidence in the four-week ceasefire between the US and Iran," say analysts at Commerzbank Research, who stress that the main theme remains risk-off sentiment.

Against this backdrop, European stock exchanges are in positive territory, with Milan's FTSE MIB running thanks to the pull of Unicredit .

Investors are also looking ahead to the quarterly earnings season, which continues on both sides of the Atlantic. In this regard, at Piazza Affari all eyes are on Unicredit which in the morning released first-quarter accounts that saw net profit above expectations at €3.2 billion, up 16.1%. The bank then raised its forecasts for 2026, and now expects a profit 'equal to or above 11 billion', compared to a previous target of 'around 11 billion'. Also expected on the day are the numbers for Banco Bpm, Italgas and Leonardo.

Once again the market is concerned about the risk of a longer or wider disruption of global energy supplies due to the stalemate in negotiations between the US and Iran and the resulting blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one fifth of the world's oil transits. Crude oil prices are currently falling, but experts say this is a possible technical correction after they rose sharply on the eve of the event. Meanwhile, the gas is flat.

On the currency, the euro weakened and traded below 1.17 (from 1.1701 at the previous close). Btp-Bund spread stable. The yield spread between the benchmark ten-year BTp and the German ten-year Bund stood at 84 basis points, the same as at the previous day's closing. The yield on the Italian ten-year benchmark maturity declined from 3.92% of the previous benchmark.