Stock exchanges, Fed and Big tech keep Europe on edge. Milan (-0.5%) starts rally St

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Closing in the red for the European stock markets, caught between the wait for the Fed's decision on rates, the new oil rises - with the White House not ruling out a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for months - and the quarterly earnings season, which will come into full swing with the US Big tech (Alphabet , Amazon , Meta Platforms and Microsoft Corp , on Thursday those of Apple ). Doubts about the resilience of the AI sector are also returning: the Wsj's indiscretions about OpenAI's accounts cooled sentiment on the eve of the event, which today was only partly heartened by Nxp's quarterly report.

On the central banking front, anticipation is rising for the Fed's response: rather than the status quo on rates, already discounted by the market, investors are looking to the last press conference of Chairman Jerome Powell (at the end of his term). "We expect him to adopt a more restrictive tone, signs of inflationary risk are emerging, and with a resilient economy and US equity markets still solid, risks are likely to increase," explains Derek Halpenny of Mufg Bank. Meanwhile, on the macro front, the durable goods orders figure for March was above expectations, while in the construction sector the new construction sites (+10.8%) rose sharply and above expectations, while the building permits slipped sharply (-10.8%).

Attention then remains high on the Middle East issue, with Tehran claiming that it does not consider the war "over" with the US ceasefire and US President Donald Trump reportedly telling his aides, according to the Wall Street Journal, to prepare for a "prolonged blockade" of Iran. All this, while the UAE's historic exit from Opec opens new questions.

Against this backdrop, Piazza Affari ended down 0.5%, Paris and Frankfurt 0.4%, Madrid 0.75% and London was the worst (-1.2%).

Wall Street's major indices moved slightly lower as oil prices continued their ascent due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. On the Fed front, although traders point to a continuation of the status quo, they will be watching closely for words from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, in what could be his last meeting (his term expires on 15 May). Investors are waiting to see whether Powell will leave the central bank altogether, as his term as a voting member of the Board of Governors on paper continues until 31 January 2028.