Stock market: Europe holds up despite oil slump; Milan (+0.6%) regains 50,000 points
Anticipation builds ahead of US quarterly results and inflation figures
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - European stock markets are banking on US quarterly results and closed higher on the first trading day of the week, despite a slowdown in sales of tech shares and a further rise in oil prices. Investors are also awaiting the release of US inflation figures for September, due on Wednesday, which will provide clues as to the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy moves, whilst government bonds enjoyed a quiet day. The FTSE MIB on the Milan Stock Exchange ended the day up 0.58 per cent, regaining the 50,000-point mark (50,035), whilst on Wall Street the S&P 500 remains close to its all-time highs. Among Milan’s blue chips, Technoprobe (-2.52 per cent) and STMicroelectronics (-2.11 per cent) were among the day’s biggest losers, following the global weakness in the sector (the European Stoxx sub-index was down 0.4 per cent and the Nasdaq in New York was down 0.8 per cent). Stellantis (-1.26%) also fell at the end of a volatile day, whilst buying activity boosted Campari (+2.99%), Avio (+2.75%) and Nexi (+2.47%). Banks were generally up on the day that MPS’s extraordinary board meeting is scheduled to take place (+1.36%), at which the board is due to take stock of the situation following the relaunch of Intesa Sanpaolo’s public takeover bid (+1.11%) and the announcement that certain major shareholders – representing more than a third of the share capital – had rejected the defensive strategy devised by CEO Luigi Lovaglio. BPER, in particular, gained 2.18 per cent.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro has weakened below the 1.12 dollar mark and is trading at 1.1168, down from 1.1195 at Friday’s close. The single currency is also trading at 177.28 yen (up from 177.26), whilst the dollar/yen exchange rate stands at 158.72 (up from 157.59). On the energy front, as mentioned, oil prices are rising, whilst the market is assessing the situation in Ukraine – where the truce on energy assets announced by US President Donald Trump does not appear to have yielded any concrete results – and in the Middle East. The November WTI futures contract is up 1.86% at $93.56 per barrel, whilst the December Brent contract has risen by 1.89% to $106.70. Natural gas in Amsterdam is up 3 per cent at €83.9 per megawatt-hour.
Ppa-
