Milan Leads Declines; Focus on Iran, Gold, and Brent Prices

(Alliance News) - On Friday, major European stock indices opened in negative territory as all eyes turned to the Middle East following Israel's attack on Iran.

In morning trading, both Brent crude and gold prices climbed. Brent futures rose to around USD76 per barrel, reaching their highest level since February, driven by fears of supply disruptions after Israel launched a preemptive strike against Iran.

The prospect of a wider conflict in the Middle East threatens to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for about 20% of global oil flows.

As for gold, the yellow metal posted a gain of over 1.0%, surpassing USD3,435 and approaching record highs as investors sought refuge from rising geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty.

At the time of writing, Brent is trading at USD73.22 per barrel, up from USD69.34 at the previous close, while gold stands at USD3,437.25 per ounce, compared to USD3,385.70 the day before.

Accordingly, the FTSE Mib is down 1.6% at 39,305.25, the Mid-Cap drops 1.3% to 53,663.05, the Small-Cap falls 1.2% to 30,724.99, and the Italy Growth index slips 0.8% to 30,724.99.

London's FTSE 100 is down 0.7% at 8,827.21, Paris' CAC 40 loses 1.1% to 7,678.72, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is down 1.3% at 23,460.26.

On the macroeconomic front, German consumer price inflation stood at 2.1% in May, in line with preliminary estimates and unchanged from the previous month, remaining at its lowest level since October 2024.

Also in Germany, wholesale prices rose 0.4% year-on-year in May, following a 0.8% increase in April, driven by a 4.3% rise in prices for food, beverages, and tobacco.

Back in Milan, only three stocks on the FTSE Mib are in positive territory: Leonardo, Eni, and Saipem, up 2.2%, 1.7%, and 0.1% respectively.

Among the laggards, Stellantis fared worst, sinking to the bottom with a 3.0% decline. Banca Popolare di Sondrio also fell--down 2.9%--after expressing strong reservations about the public exchange offer launched by BPER Banca, which itself dropped 2.3%, describing the proposed valuation as "not representative of the bank's real value."

In the banking sector, on Thursday, the Lazio Regional Administrative Court rejected Banco BPM's request--not to suspend the public exchange offer launched by UniCredit--Banco BPM shares dropped 2.2%, while UniCredit lost 2.0%. BPM CEO Giuseppe Castagna reiterated that "as the market has always demonstrated, the OPS launched on Banco BPM continues to be unattractive for shareholders and has never been so from day one."

Pirelli's shareholders' meeting--down 1.5%--approved the 2024 financial statements by majority, despite a negative vote from Marco Polo International Italy, the Sinochem-controlled vehicle holding 37% of the capital.

Sinochem reiterated that its negative vote was not related to economic data, which it does not contest, but solely to information regarding the company's control, according to the daily.

Buzzi--down 1.6%--announced Wednesday that Standard & Poor's had upgraded its credit rating, raising its long-term rating from 'BBB' to 'BBB+' and confirming its short-term rating at 'A-2'.

Among midcaps, Ariston Group fell 1.5%. The company signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 80% of Zecchi Riscaldatori Elettrici, a firm founded in 1962 in San Gillio, near Turin, specializing in band and tubular heaters, well-regarded in Italy and abroad for the high technical quality of its products.

S&P Global Ratings confirmed Thursday its long-term 'BBB-' rating with a Stable outlook on Cementir Holding--down 1.3%--maintaining the company's investment grade status.

Maire Group--up 1.0%--has launched the placement of about 5 million ordinary shares--equal to 1.5% of capital--following the achievement of targets in its 2022-2024 and 2023-2025 incentive plans.

On the Small-Cap index, Biesse--down 2.0%--announced Thursday that Massimo Potenza has stepped down from his roles as CEO and General Manager to pursue new professional opportunities, effective immediately.

Edison's board--down 1.0%--on Thursday appointed Bernard Fontana as the new company director, replacing outgoing director Luc Rémont.

Fidia--down 3.6%--announced Wednesday that from June 16 it will proceed with a reverse stock split at a ratio of 1 new share for every 100 existing shares. The move will reduce the number of shares outstanding from 746.6 million to 7.5 million units.

Among SMEs, SolidWorld Group--flat at EUR1.21 per share--reported the placement of 384,450 new ordinary shares with bonus shares, left unsubscribed and originating from the capital increase approved at the company's extraordinary general meeting on November 13, 2024, and executed by the board on March 26.

Under the placement, 384,450 new shares were subscribed at EUR1.20 each--of which EUR0.10 was allocated to capital and EUR1.10 to share premium reserve--for a total value of EUR461,340.00.

Almawave--down 0.3%--announced Thursday that Velvet, its family of generative AI models, is now supported as the "Default LLM" within Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Data Science AI Quick Actions, a platform that allows Oracle clients to easily test and deploy foundational commercial AI models.

Circle--down 2.9%--announced Thursday the signing of a new contract worth EUR200,000, lasting about 12 months, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen interoperability and drive the digital evolution of the national port system.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 0.9% at 37,834.25, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.8% to 3,377.00, and the Hang Seng fell 1.0% to 23,800.61.

In New York, at Thursday's close, the Dow gained 0.2% to 42,967.62, the Nasdaq rose 0.2% to 19,662.48, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.4% to 6,045.26.

In currency markets, the euro changed hands at USD1.1550, down from USD1.1581 Thursday evening, while the pound traded at USD1.3566, compared to USD1.359 the previous night.

On Friday's economic calendar, Italy's trade balance data is due at 1000 CEST, while EU industrial production figures will be released at 1100 CEST.

At 1700 CEST, a speech by Elderson of the European Central Bank is scheduled, while at 1900 CEST, Baker Hughes will release data on the total number of U.S. oil rigs.

No significant announcements are expected from companies listed on Piazza Affari.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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