Stock market: shares open higher following Wall Street’s rally, with Milan immediately above the 52,000 mark
Unicredit and BPM surge, while ST falls following the launch of a convertible bond
European stock markets got off to a positive start, still buoyed by enthusiasm for the broad agreement reached overnight between Sunday and Monday by the United States and Iran, which is set to be ratified with an official signing scheduled for Friday in Geneva. Milan is the best-performing market on the Old Continent, once again driven by the banking sector. The FTSE MIB, up 0.7%, opened at record levels, above the 52,000-point mark. Paris gained 0.3%, Frankfurt 0.22% and Madrid 0.67%, whilst Amsterdam remained around the break-even point. London also rose by 0.2%. Yesterday, Wall Street closed sharply higher, with the Dow Jones setting a new all-time high and the Nasdaq up 3%. Tokyo ended the session up 0.13%, on a day when the Bank of Japan, as expected, raised interest rates by 25 basis points, bringing them to 1%. Meanwhile, anticipation is growing for the decision to be announced tomorrow by the Federal Reserve at the end of the two-day meeting of the FOMC, the US central bank’s monetary policy committee. The spotlight will be on Kevin Warsh, making his debut at the helm of the US central bank. Turning to the international scene, investors are aware that, although a phase of détente has begun, the road to lasting peace in the Middle East remains long. Following the signing scheduled for Friday, a 60-day window of intense negotiations will open, particularly on the nuclear dossier, which should lead to the finalisation of a definitive agreement. On the trade front, however, concern has been raised by the words of President Donald Trump, who has threatened 100% tariffs on French wine should Paris not scrap its digital services tax.
On the Milan Stock Exchange, banks are in the spotlight, with Unicredit leading the way, up 3%, as investors await any moves that CEO Andrea Orcel might announce as part of the consolidation process in the Italian banking sector. All eyes are also on Banco BPM (+1.27%), which is holding a board meeting today. Generali continues to rise (+0.7%), increasingly at the centre of ongoing financial manoeuvres. STMicroelectronics is down by over 2% following the announcement of a €1.5 billion convertible bond issue. The prospect of a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is helping to keep oil prices under pressure: WTI is down 0.15% at $80.63 a barrel, whilst Brent is down 0.57% at $82.70. The fall in crude oil prices is also weighing on the energy sector, with Saipem down 0.9% and Eni down 0.2%.
Finally, the euro weakened to $1.1589 (yesterday’s close was $1.16). It is also worth 185.8 yen, whilst the dollar-yen exchange rate stands at 160.32. Gas prices rose by 1% to €42.96 per megawatt hour. Bitcoin fell to $66,332 (-0.5%).
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