EU stock exchanges up, hopes rise on US-Iran deal. Brent falls below $100

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - A new session of rises for the European stock markets. The hopes for a resolution of the conflict between the United States and Iran, however, are mainly supporting the stock markets. Just in the night the US president, Donald Trump, said that 'great strides have been made towards a complete and final agreement with Iranian representatives' and announced the suspension of Project Freeedom, the US military escort project for ships through the Strait of Hormuz. An announcement also supported by the Axios website, according to which the parties are close to a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict. The White House, again according to the site, expects answers from Iran on several key points in the next 48 hours. The hopes of a near end to the war are reflected in the price of oil which continues its descent: Brent loses over 8% slipping below 100 dollars a barrel. The gas also fell.

Against this backdrop, Milan's FTSE MIB is moving upwards, to its highest level since early March 2000, while the other indices of the Old Contient are also rising.

In the Old Continent, the quarterly earnings season continues apace. At Piazza Affari, among others, it is the turn of Banca Generali , Tenaris , Telecom Italia and Leonardo . The latter saw adjusted earnings jump by 60% to EUR 184 million and revenues to EUR 4.4 billion (+6.9%) in the first quarter. On the other hand, eve's accounts reward Amplifon . Acquisitions were also made on Lottomatica Group , which ended the first quarter with an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 236m. Banks were also strong after the quarterly reports, with Unicredit and Banco Bpm leading the way. Opposite side for oil stocks with Eni slipping to the bottom of the list.

On the currency the euro/dollar exchange rate stood above 1.17 (1.1705 US dollars on eve of the close). Downward trend for theBTP/Bund spread. The yield differential between the benchmark ten-year BTp and the German Bund stood at 78 basis points, down from 80 points at the previous closing The yield on the benchmark ten-year BTp fell more sharply from 3.87 per cent at the previous benchmark.

China's stock exchanges closed on an uptrend, benefiting from positive quarterly data and good Wall Street sentiment. By the end of the session, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.17 percent at 4,160.17 points while the Shenzhen Composite Index closed up 2.33 percent at 15,459.62 points. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange also fared well, with the Hang Seng Index closing up 1.22 percent at 26,213.78 points. Tokyo closed for public holidays.