Stock exchanges, ECB doves push European stock markets. Milan closes +0.8%.

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The European stock exchanges closed the first session of the week on a positive note, with Milan's Ftse Mib leading the gains and ending the week at +0.8% despite the closure of Wall Street and London. The renewed confidence on the next monetary policy moves pushed the markets, with the possibility that central banks may cut interest rates not only in June, as the markets have widely expected, but also immediately afterwards. The latest confirmation comes from Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau, who told the German daily Boersen-Zeitung that the ECB should not rule out cutting interest rates at its June and July meetings. Villeroy's words echoed those of Philip Lane, a member of the ECB executive board who, speaking at the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin, opened up to the possibility of an initial rate cut starting with the next meeting in June.

The ECB is ready to start interest rate cuts starting next week. The announcement was made by the member of the ECB Executive Board, Philip Lane, speaking to the Financial Times. "Barring any major surprises, right now what we see is sufficient to remove the maximum level of tightening," Lane said in an interview with the British financial newspaper. Furthermore, Lane claimed the ECB's success in being able to bring 'inflation down in a timely manner'. That said, he added 'monetary policy must remain in restrictive territory'. Meanwhile, Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau told the German daily Boersen-Zeitung that the ECB should not rule out cutting interest rates at its June and July meetings, explaining that he favours "maximum optionality" after what he called a done deal for a June rate cut that could only be jeopardised by a shock. "Sometimes I read that we should only cut rates once a quarter when new economic projections are available, and then exclude July," Villeroy said. Why, if we go meeting by meeting and are guided by the data? I'm not saying we should commit as early as July, but let's keep our freedom on timing and pace'.

The Ifo index of German business confidence stood at 89.3 in May. This was announced by the research institute, indicating that it was unchanged from April's figure, revised downwards from the previously reported 89.4. The result is significantly lower than analysts' expectations, who had expected a value above 90. The current conditions index narrowed to 88.3 from 88.9: again, the result disappointed expectations. As for expectations, the benchmark index stood at 90.4, up from 89.7 (revised downwards) in April but still below expectations.

Among the main Milanese stocks, purchases rewarded Leonardo - Finmeccanica , thanks to new orders in the helicopter division, with analysts estimating the value of new orders at over EUR 200 million. The energy sector also did well, led by Saipem, Erg and Tenaris , as investors await the Opec+ summit scheduled for Sunday. Bank stocks were weak. Outside the main basket, Newlat Food rallied after announcing the acquisition of Britain's Princes. Among banks, Banca Mediolanum , Banca Banca Pop Sondr and Banco Bpm as investors weigh the impact ofthe imminent ECB rate cut.

In detail, Newlat has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of Princes Limited, a historic British food group founded in Liverpool in 1880, currently owned by Mitsubishi Corporation, for £700 million. The deal also involves the controlling shareholder Newlat Group selling 9,319,481 Newlat Food shares to Mitsubishi at €6.30 per share. Mitsubishi will thus become the second-largest shareholder in Newlat Food with 21.2% of the economic rights and 15.1% of the voting rights, but will be able to exit in the next 12 months thanks to a series of call options (for Newlat) and put options (for Mitsubishi). The merged group will be called New Princes and aims to be the first unicorn in the food sector listed in Milan.