Stock markets: Wall Street rises – Dow Jones up 0.20 per cent and Nasdaq up 1.57 per cent. Nvidia soars. Milan down 1 per cent

But buying activity is boosting the entire chip sector, with Arm, Marvell Technology and Micron Technology seeing strong buying interest. Meanwhile, Salesforce is soaring, buoyed by its best-ever quarterly results and the expansion of its partnership with Anthropic. Okta is also rallying after beating analysts’ expectations and reporting strong demand driven by artificial intelligence.

In a bearish session, a handful of shares on the FTSE MIB managed to close in positive territory at the end of trading. Among these, technology stocks Prysmian (+1.6%) and St (+2.29%) stood out, benefiting from Nvidia’s post-quarterly rally on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, Campari (-1.79 per cent) is slipping, weighed down by the financial results and cautious outlook of its French rival Pernod Ricard. Looking ahead, the sales forecasts for the coming years from the French spirits producer – owner of Absolut vodka and Jameson whisky – are not optimistic, according to RBC Capital. This reinforces the rather lacklustre outlook for the sector provided by its British competitor Diageo.

A tough session for banks in the wake of French groups – Societe Generale (-4.99%) and BNP Paribas (-4.79%), amongst others – which were hit by selling as fears over the French budget resurfaced. The key players in the banking crisis were no exception on the day that Generali (-0.39%) convened its board of directors to assess the bid from MPS (-1.98%) for its subsidiary Banca Generali (+0.23%). This move, together with the public offer launched by Siena for Banco BPM (-2.12%), forms part of the strategy devised by the CEO, Luigi Lovaglio, to fend off the takeover bid by Intesa Sanpaolo (-1.75 per cent) for Monte.

In Europe, whilst Milan closed down by one percentage point (the FTSE MIB down 1.17 per cent), the worst-performing market was Paris (the CAC 40 down 1.68 per cent), hitting its lowest level in over a month. The first presidential debate ahead of next year’s elections, scheduled for this evening, has in fact brought fears regarding the budget and political instability in France back into the spotlight. The latest polls suggest that, alongside the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, the far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has previously championed radical proposals such as the cancellation of the national debt held by the Bank of France. Bank shares such as Société Générale, BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole are bearing the brunt of this nervousness. Their falls come on top of the sharp declines seen in Pernod Ricard and Eiffage, both of which have recently reported their results.

Oil prices are rising again, with Brent hovering around $89 a barrel whilst WTI is in the $82 range. Optimism regarding an imminent solution in the Middle East has waned, whilst updates and insights are awaited from the visit by Qatar’s Prime Minister to Tehran, in an attempt to revive diplomacy between the United States and Iran. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards stated on Wednesday that Iran and Oman had reached an agreement on how to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the associated revenues; however, a high-level Iranian source subsequently stated that the two countries were still working out the details of the agreement.

European gas prices are also on the rise, climbing back above 68 euros per MWh.

Limited movement on the foreign exchange market, as traders await guidance from central banks, with the euro/dollar holding steady around 1.165. “In the absence of any new developments, traders are looking ahead to the European Central Bank and Federal Reserve meetings in September, which could result in changes to interest rates,” comment analysts at MPS. Meanwhile, the yen remains very weak and not far from its all-time lows.

A session of gains for Eurozone government bond yields, after oil prices recovered from the previous session’s lows and resumed their upward trend, amid renewed doubts about the possibility of reaching an agreement in the near future to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The yield on the 10-year German Bund – the benchmark for the eurozone – stands at around 3.25 per cent, remaining close to its highest levels in the last 15 years. The yield on the Italian 10-year bond has consolidated above 4 per cent at 4.07 per cent, whilst the BTp/Bund spread remained unchanged at 82 points at the close.