US-Iran frost overshadows Nvidia super chip and reignites oil. Milan closes -0.5%

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - With the start of the new month, the optimism for an imminent resolution of the conflict in the Middle East that had led global indices, from Wall Street to Piazza Affari, to update new all-time highs in May, vanished. In fact, the European stock exchanges filed the first session of June down, with the news of the breakdown of diplomatic talks between the USA and Iran at least partly overshadowing the new wave of enthusiasm for the tech sector after the announcement of the new N1X processor, produced by Nvidia (+4% on Wall Street) in collaboration with Microsoft (+3%). The new chip, which according to the company's CEO, Jensen Huang, will 'reinvent the PC', will be integrated in the new Rtx Spark superchip and will debut in a new line of Windows devices from Microsoft, Dell, Hp, Asus, Lenovo and Msi this autumn.

But it is the Middle East crisis that holds sway: Tehran has made it known that there will be no talks with Washington until Iranian demands on the cessation of Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza, which are considered a violation of the ceasefire, are met. In addition, Iran has reportedly decided to 'pursue the complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz', thus sending the price of oil soaring. At the end of the session, all the main stock markets of the Old Continent were in the red, from the FTSE MIB of Milan, which fell back below 50,000 points, to DAX 40, CAC 40, IBEX 35 and the London-based FTSE 100.

Indices on Wall Street also weakened as oil prices accelerated again. Renewed attacks on each other between the US and Iran - and the halt in talks - clouded the prospects for an agreement to end the conflict and pushed up the price of crude oil. But this week, investors will focus their attention on the May jobs report, due out on Friday 6 May: a much-anticipated piece of data, for new information on the health of the labour market and the outlook for the Federal Reserve on interest rates.

The oil sector, which benefited from higher oil prices, closed higher on Milan's main list. Saipem led the gains along with Tenaris. Weak Unicredit as the public exchange offer on Commerzbank enters the decisive phase. The bank, led by Andrea Orcel, has already accumulated a significant stake in the German bank, exceeding 35-40% of the capital between direct shares and derivative instruments. Generally speaking, it is the entire credit sector that is under the lens of investors with the various risk hypotheses circulating, from Banca Monte Paschi Siena being mentioned as a possible takeover target for Banco Bpm, passing through Intesa Sanpaolo and the future of Generali. Focus was also on the tech sector with Stmicroelectronics on the back of Nvidia Corp and SoftBank's decision to invest EUR75 billion in France to build Europe's largest AI hub. On the other hand, sales on the Defence and Space-related segment with Avio, Fincantieri and Leonardo at the bottom of the Ftse-Mib.

The oil price rose again from the lows of the past two weeks amid uncertainty about the prospects for a peace deal to end the conflict between Iran and the United States. The Brent rallied (+5%) to over USD 97 a barrel, while the Wti ripped 7% to USD 94. Gas was also on the rise, rising over 6% in Amsterdam to €49 per MWh. Among commodities, gold sold off with the spot contract closing at USD 4,515 an ounce (-1.4%). On the currency market, euro/dollar moved little in the 1.16 area.