Stock market: Europe weak ahead of US jobs figures; Milan down (-0.5 per cent) as banks fall
Tech purchases
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - European stock markets began the day on a cautious note; following the previous day’s recovery, they are awaiting the release of US labour market data for indications on the health of the US economy and the outlook for monetary policy. Yesterday, the fall in government bond yields and comments by Federal Reserve Board member Christopher Waller regarding the possibility of leaving US interest rates unchanged at the September meeting had eased fears over debt financing costs and allowed share prices to rise. On the Milan Stock Exchange, the FTSE MIB fell by 0.49 per cent, whilst elsewhere in Europe, Frankfurt was down 0.03 per cent and Paris 0.29 per cent. Amsterdam remained in positive territory, recording a rise of 0.16 per cent. Among the leading Milanese stocks, the technology sector performed well, having already been in the spotlight in the US thanks to Snowflake’s rally (+16.6%) in the wake of the encouraging outlook announced by the company: STMicroelectronics gained 0.68 per cent and Prysmian – considered part of the sector given the need for infrastructure electrification – rose by 0.63 per cent. There was also buying interest in Stellantis (+0.9 per cent) and Campari (+0.67 per cent), whilst banks trailed the market as investors grappled with uncertainty over the outlook for interest rates: Banco BPM fell by 1.41 per cent, UniCredit by 1.38 per cent, BPER by 0.95 per cent, Intesa Sanpaolo by 0.83 per cent and MPS by 0.73 per cent.
In the foreign exchange market, reduced certainty regarding a rate rise as early as this month (market futures now price in a probability of around 50 per cent, down from 63 per cent yesterday) has weighed on the dollar, with the euro consolidating its position above the 1.16 mark: the single currency is trading at 1.1626 dollars, up from 1.1624 at yesterday’s close. The yen has retreated slightly following yesterday’s surge: the Japanese currency is trading at 181.79 to the euro (up from 180.72) and at 156.39 to the dollar (up from 155.66). On the energy front, oil prices remain high, although they have shown little movement today: the October WTI futures contract is up 0.22% at $91.50 per barrel, whilst the November Brent contract stands at $95.69 (+0.18%). Bitcoin is down 1% at $80,817. Natural gas prices in Amsterdam are largely unchanged, with the benchmark futures contract up 0.5% at €72.2 per megawatt-hour.
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