Stock market: Europe weak at midday; Milan down 0.2 per cent, with Stellantis down 4 per cent
The dollar rises, oil falls
European stock markets were trading cautiously midway through the session following the signing of the preliminary agreement between the US and Iran, which allows for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and in light of the ‘hawkish’ tone adopted by the new Fed chairman, Kevin Warsh. In his first press conference as head of the central bank, Warsh emphasised that the Federal Reserve will not tolerate high inflation: as a result, the markets now consider it 38 per cent likely that US interest rates will rise as early as next month. On the Milan Stock Exchange, the FTSE MIB fell by 0.16%, whilst elsewhere in Europe, Paris was down 0.02%, Frankfurt was unchanged and Amsterdam fell by 0.37%. London was the worst performer, slipping by 1.04%, weighed down by a general decline in commodity stocks. Among Milan’s blue chips, buying interest is boosting STMicroelectronics (+2.22%) in a chip sector abuzz with rumours of the launch of the new generation of iPhone Air and the agreement between Apple and Intel on chips. Prysmian (+2.74%) and Banco BPM (+1.45%) also performed well, the latter buoyed by the possibility of a stake increase by its largest shareholder, Crédit Agricole. Avio rose by 1.13% following the successful launch of the Ariane 6 with the new P160 boosters, whilst Generali (+0.47%) is in the spotlight over a possible shake-up of its shareholding structure after *Il Sole 24 Ore* reported that UniCredit had offered Delfin the chance to swap its 10% stake for shares in the bank itself, based at Piazza Gae Aulenti. Meanwhile, the automotive sector is still seeing selling pressure following BMW’s profit warning the previous day (-4.3% in Frankfurt): Stellantis is down 4.24%. Saipem (-4.06%) is in the red, following the fall in oil prices, along with Buzzi (-3.1%) and Amplifon (-2.96%).
In the foreign exchange market, the dollar has strengthened to 1.1464 per euro (from 1.1591 at yesterday’s close). The greenback also rose to 160.93 yen (from 160.24), whilst the euro/yen exchange rate stood at 184.49 (from 185.70). On the energy front, as mentioned, oil prices are falling again: the July WTI futures contract is down 2.73% at $74.69 per barrel, whilst the August Brent contract is down 0.98% at $78.77. Natural gas in Amsterdam is down 1.6% at 41.3 euros per megawatt-hour.
Ppa-
