Milan`s stock market, Piazza Affari, experienced a subdued trading session, closing lower yesterday, influenced by weakness on Wall Street and renewed concerns regarding the stability of the US economy. The picture was further complicated by uncertainty surrounding a US court`s decision on temporarily suspending tariffs, which continued to fuel doubt among investors.
Italy`s main stock index, the FTSE MIB, finished the session down 0.36%, settling at 39,982 points and consequently slipping below the symbolic 40,000 threshold.
Piazza Affari`s decline was in line with the trend observed across the rest of Europe: Frankfurt closed down 0.44%, while Paris and London both lost 0.11%. In contrast, Madrid was the only major exchange to close positively, recording a gain of 0.11%.
The spread between Italian BTPs and German Bunds remained largely unchanged at 98 basis points, while yields on Italian bonds decreased, standing at 3.488%, a drop of 4.5 basis points. This marks the first time yields have fallen below the 3.5% mark since February, an effect partly attributed to weak US macro data, which is leading markets to anticipate an imminent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
On the currency front, the euro saw a slight appreciation against the US dollar, rising to 1.137, while gold continued its upward movement, gaining 0.96% and reaching $3,321.3 per ounce. Conversely, WTI oil faced renewed selling pressure, falling to $61.11 per barrel.
Within the Milan list, the session was primarily weighed down by negative performances from several large companies in the industrial and financial sectors. Leonardo closed with a decrease of 2.20%, followed by Buzzi Unicem (-2.13%) and Prysmian (-1.54%). Sales were also evident in Generali, which lost 1.47%, and Terna, down 1.00%. Among banks, Unicredit was notably weak, closing with a decrease of 0.88%.
Moving against the prevailing trend, some positive performances were recorded. Pirelli posted a rise of 1.13%, while Amplifon gained 1.10% and Unipol 1.01%. STMicroelectronics (+0.3%), Monte dei Paschi di Siena (+0.65%), and Banca Popolare di Sondrio (+0.60%) also finished in positive territory.
Among smaller capitalization stocks, Revo stood out with a significant jump of 5.01%, and De` Longhi grew by 3.41%. Alerion Clean Power (+3.37%), Ferragamo (+2.93%), and Carel Industries (+1.92%) also delivered good performances.
However, it was a challenging session for TXT e-solutions, which shed 3.93%, and for Fincantieri, down 3.45%. Also closing in the red were Garofalo Health Care (-2.77%), GVS (-2.28%), and Juventus, which lost 2.25%. Within the football sector specifically, Lazio was a positive outlier, gaining 1.46%.