Piazza Affari weakened through the morning, mirroring the performance of other European stock exchanges and US index futures, as investors await new US inflation data with July’s core PCE due out early this afternoon.
The final week of August is currently showing a negative balance, impacted by turbulence in French markets amid the country’s political crisis and ongoing concerns over potential new taxes on banks—fears that have lingered for days in Italy and today are also affecting the UK.
Around 12:15 pm, the FTSE Mib was down 0.6%, with modest trading volumes of about €890 million.
Among the standout stocks:
** MFE shares, both B (+3.4%) and A (+4.2%), continued to shine as they did yesterday, following the effective success of the ProSieben deal.
** Defense sector stocks were among the few gainers, with LEONARDO up 1.9% and FINCANTIERI advancing more than 4%.
** Banks suffered losses, remaining weak across Europe in the wake of sharp declines in the UK sector, where fears are mounting over possible fiscal interventions to support public finances. The British think tank IPPR has suggested that interest payments made by the Bank of England (BoE) on reserves held by banks at the central bank should be targeted. The Italian banking index fell 0.8%, ranging from UNICREDIT’s -0.5% to MPS’s -1.6%.
** TELECOM continued its decline (-1.3%), extending yesterday’s sharp correction after Iliad’s CEO ruled out M&A activity in Italy.
** After an uncertain start, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI strengthened (+2.1%) following last night’s announcement of increased half-year profits and confirmation of full-year estimates in light of robust July and August sales.
(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi, editing by Antonella Cinelli)