(Alliance News) - On Tuesday, the main European stock exchanges closed the session in positive territory, supported by an improvement in geopolitical sentiment and a return of risk appetite on trading floors.
In Milan, the Mib ended trading significantly higher, above the 45,200-point area, recovering after touching nearly three-month lows in previous days.
Supporting the indices were primarily statements from U.S. President Donald Trump, who indicated that the conflict with Iran could – the conditional mood appears imperative – end sooner than expected, stating that military operations are already at a very advanced stage compared to the initial timeline of four to five weeks.
On the commodities front, investor attention remains high, but some signs of relief are emerging. European natural gas futures – measured on the Dutch TTF – fell to the EUR47 per MWh area after touching a three-year high.
The recent rise in crude oil prices – although it marked a bearish repricing today – continues to fuel concerns about possible inflationary pressures and interest rate developments, pushing markets to now price in the possibility that the ECB will proceed with at least one further 25 basis point rate hike during the year.
Thus, the FTSE Mib closed with an increase of 2.7% at 45,201.69, the Mid-Cap in the green by 2.1% at 56,414.31, the Small-Cap rose by 1.7% to 34,748.20 while Italy Growth gained 1.1% to 8,467.62.
London's FTSE 100 concluded up 1.6%, Paris's CAC 40 up 1.8%, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 marked a 2.3% plus.
Among the Milanese blue chips, strength was seen in banking stocks Mediobanca and Banca Monte dei Paschi, both up 5.0%, on the day the boards of the two banks met to approve merger projects and the exchange ratio. As Francesco Bonazzo explains on Alliance News, "diplomacy between the major shareholders of MPS, starting with the Del Vecchio heirs, is at work to avoid a fratricidal war, in view of a possible escalation of the Milanese investigation for market manipulation and obstruction of supervision."
"Eyes are also on Consob, which initially had not found any concerted action for Mediobanca by the suspects Lovaglio, Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, and Francesco Milleri of Delfin. New investigative findings could lead to a new judgment," writes the columnist in his column for Alliance News "Affari in Piazza".
UniCredit also advanced well, gaining 5.7% to reach the top of the list. The queen of Piazza Affari – which remains the first Italian company by market cap – advanced after three consecutive bearish candles, with the price in the EUR68.81 area.
STMicroelectronics advanced 5.6% to EUR29.22 per share. Deutsche Bank Research confirms a positive view on the stock, maintaining a 'buy' recommendation and raising the target price to EUR32.00 from EUR28.00. In the report signed by Johannes Schaller, the German bank highlights how the company is strengthening its exposure to the artificial intelligence-related data center segment, identified as one of the main growth drivers for the coming years.
Ferrari advanced 1.9% to EUR300.50 per share. It is worth mentioning that Barclays revised the target price downward on the stock to EUR360.00 from the previous EUR365.00.
Eni – down 0.6% – lost ground with the drop in the price of a barrel. Additionally, the company announced on Tuesday that Plenitude signed a fifteen-year partnership with Methagora for the supply of biomethane in France. The agreement stipulates that Plenitude will purchase approximately 50 GWh of biomethane per year for a period of 15 years, in compliance with French regulations on the Biomethane Production Certificate system.
On the mid-cap segment, the top of the list went to Carel Industries, which pushed forward by 9.1%. The company board on Tuesday approved the consolidated results as of December 31, 2025, recording a net result of EUR73.6 million, an 18% increase compared to 2024. The board also proposed a dividend of EUR0.195 per share, up from EUR0.165 last year.
Upper quarters for Sanlorenzo, which rose 4.1% to EUR30.55 per share after good accounts. Group net profit stood at EUR107.4 million, up 4.3% compared to EUR103.1 million recorded in December 2024. The board proposed a dividend of EUR1.05 per share to the assembly, up from the EUR1.00 coupon paid on May 19, 2025.
d'Amico International Shipping – in the green by 2.5% – announced on Tuesday that its operating subsidiary d'Amico Tankers (Ireland) has signed new financing contracts relating to 6 of its owned vessels. The total amount is USD83.0 million, with margins on the three-month SOFR rate between 130 basis points – for the most recent financing – and 150 basis points, with an average margin of 1.4%.
Among the minority of decliners, a loss for Moltiply Group, which fell 4.0%, subject to profit-taking and closing the list by interrupting a five-session upward trend.
On the Small-Cap, strength in Tesmec, which gained 9.1% after a 2.7% drop in the previous session.
SIT gained 6.1%, after a 1.1% loss the day before. The stock – which has not paid a dividend since 2022 – closed the session bringing the price to the EUR2.78 area with a positive variation exceeding 8% over five sessions.
Aeffe advanced 1.7%, after two bearish sessions and awaiting the accounts to be published on Thursday.
Caltagirone Editore – flat at EUR1.82 – announced on Monday that it closed 2025 with a net profit of EUR626,000, down from EUR8.2 million in 2024, while total profit rose to EUR163.1 million thanks to the revaluation of equity investments and capital gains on listed securities.
Among SMEs, Casta Diva stock pushed forward by 9.2%, after a 0.9% loss in the previous session.
Friends – up over 14% and at the top of the list – approved the strategic growth lines of the group that will be born from the acquisition of PMG Italia, an operation that will lead to the creation of the so-called Friends group and will also be accompanied by the issuance of warrants intended for shareholders. Among the main development directions is the introduction, within PMG Italia, of a new offering line called "Business Direzionale", dedicated to sustainable mobility projects entirely financed by a corporate sponsor who obtains exclusive brand visibility.
Innovatec posted a 7.9% rise, after a 3.4% negative balance on Monday evening.
Alfonsino fell 4.6%, after a 3.2% gain in the previous session, with the stock seeing its market cap drop by over 18% since the beginning of the year.
In New York, the Dow Jones is moving up 0.4%, the S&P 500 advances 0.3%, while the Nasdaq advances 0.4%.
On the currency front, the euro changes hands at USD1.1643 from USD1.1595 at Monday's European close, while the pound trades at USD1.3452 from USD1.3404 last night.
Among commodities, Brent trades at USD89.10 per barrel from USD98.00 on Monday, while gold is worth USD5,223.43 an ounce from USD5,107.06 last night.
Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar includes, at 0800 CET, inflation data from Germany, while at 1100 CET, the OPEC monthly report will be released.
In Italy, at 1100 CET, a 12-month BOT auction is scheduled.
In the USA, at 1200 CET, the mortgage market report will arrive, followed at 1330 CET by inflation data. At 1800 CET, a 10-year Treasury Note auction will be held.
Among Piazza Affari companies, accounts are expected from Assicurazioni Generali, BasicNet, BPER Banca, Cementir Holding, ERG, Esprinet, Geox, Leonardo, Salvatore Ferragamo, SYS-DAT, Telecom Italia, and Tesmec.
By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter
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