Stock exchanges, Tsmc shakes up tech. Mps cools in Milan (+0.4%). Crude oil falls sharply
The Taiwanese chip giant posted another record quarter. Rising results for Blackrock, and top profits for Morgan Stanley. The geopolitical scenario remains in focus. Sales on gold, silver and oil. Dollar at one and a half month highs
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Geopolitical tensions in the background and tech in the foreground and European indices closed mostly in positive territory in a mixed session, with oil falling along with gold and silver and the dollar rising to one and a half month highs. Milan ended the day with a 0.44% rise in the Ftse Mib to 45,849 points, the best was Amsterdam (+1.4%) galvanised by chip stocks, Paris lagged behind (-0.2%). The numbers and investment plans of the Taiwanese giant Tsmc set the tone for the day, bringing attention back to the topic of Ai: the group's fourth quarter exceeded market expectations by a wide margin, and the indications for 2026 as well as comments on Ai trends stimulated the entire sector, starting with the Dutch Asm International (+11%), Be Semiconductor (+7%) and Asml Holding (+6%) on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.
On the geopolitical front, President Donald Trump appears to have frozen plans to attack Iran, but attention remains high on Greenland. Meanwhile, while on the macro front, numbers comforted on the health of the US economy, attention remained high on US bank quarterlies, with above-expected numbers from BlackRock and Morgan Stanley.
Wall Street positive with tech
Wall Street closed on a positive note. The Dow Jones gained 0.60 per cent to 49,442.26 points, the Nasdaq 0.25 per cent to 23,530.02 points, and the S&P 0.26 per cent to 6,944.49 points. Chip company stocks gained after Taiwan Semiconductor (Tsmc) posted another record quarter, with a 35% jump in profits reviving investor confidence in artificial intelligence. Tsmc's stock gained ground, also dragging up Micron Technology, Nvidia and Amd. On the banking front, Morgan Stanley rose after reporting better-than-expected fourth quarter results. Goldman Sachs shares are devalued, despite the company beating earnings estimates for its latest quarter.
Prysmian in the Spotlight at Piazza Affari, Banks in the Spotlight
Banks also took the lead in Piazza Affari, with Banco Bpm (+2.15%) leading the sector. UniCredit (+1.34%) also did well, having denied being interested in entering the capital of Mps (-1.55%). The pink jersey of the Ftse Mib goes to Prysmian (+4.9%), with positive management forecasts and analysts' positive judgements ahead of the publication of the 2025 results. Tim (+2%) and Stmicroelectronics (+0.95%) also did well. Oil companies were affected by the first drop in the price of crude oil in six sessions: Eni -1.65% closed at the tail end while Saipem recovered ground (+0.18%) and Tenaris stopped at -0.17%.
Euro/dollar on lows, oil down and gold selling
Among commodities, the partial easing of the US-Iran tension triggered sales on gold and silver after record highs: the yellow metal lost 0.33% to $4,612 an ounce, while silver dropped 3% to $90.42. Natural gas in Amsterdam, on the other hand, rose 2.6 per cent to EUR 32.64 per megawatt hour. On the currency market, the dollar strengthened with the euro slipping to 1.16 to its lowest level since late November at 1.1599 after a low of 1.1593 (1.1650 yesterday). The single currency is also worth 184.45 yen (from 184.48), while the dollar/yen ratio is at 158.56 (from 158.00).
