Piazza Affari opened with solid gains, tracking its European peers, bolstered by a climate of cautious optimism regarding potential developments in the Middle East conflict.
Despite disappointment over the weekend’s stalled talks between the United States and Iran in Pakistan and Washington’s implementation of a naval blockade on Iranian ports yesterday, Reuters sources suggest that diplomatic channels remain open. This has reinforced investor perception that the risk of further escalation has partially receded.
Sentiment was further lifted by a slight retreat in oil prices and gains across Asian markets, following yesterday’s positive close on Wall Street as the quarterly earnings season got underway.
By 9:40 CET, the FTSE Mib index was up 0.66%.
Market positioning continues to be dictated by geopolitical shifts, with cyclical stocks rebounding while defense and energy sectors remain under pressure.
STELLANTIS rose 2.9% after a sharp decline in the previous session, while LEONARDO shed 1.2%. ENI and SAIPEM both retreated by approximately 0.5%.
Italian luxury stocks, a sector particularly sensitive to geopolitical instability, appeared resilient despite the decline of French giant LVMH in Paris. The latter’s quarterly results, published yesterday, highlighted the impact of the Middle East conflict. MONCLER climbed 2%, FERRAGAMO gained 1.2%, and CUCINELLI rose 0.3%.
In a read-across of LVMH’s figures, analysts at Banca Akros noted that visibility regarding the overall impact of the Iran conflict on luxury demand remains limited. However, they highlighted that Italian luxury firms maintain lower direct exposure to the Middle East.
Among small and mid-cap stocks, DANIELI surged over 4% following the announcement of a 450 million euro contract from the Marcegaglia steel group for the construction of a steel production and rolling plant. Citing improved visibility on the Friuli-based group’s order book, Akros raised its target price to 67.5 euros from 65 euros, maintaining an “accumulate” rating.
(Andrea Mandalà, editing Antonella Cinelli)