The final session of the week leading up to the August bank holiday was a mixed one for global financial markets. Asia had started strongly, with the Seoul Kospi index up 2,4% and the current star stock, SK Hynix, up 3,2%. This week, the Korean Stock Exchange index gained more than 11%, and SK Hynix more than 15%.Tokyo's Nikkei also performed well, gaining 0,6%, while European stock markets and Wall Street were decidedly more uncertain. Piazza Affari, which had nearly hit 54.000 points this week, closed today down 0,2% at 53.580 points. Paris was down 0,16%, London down 0,2%. The only exception is Frankfurt +0,5%, supported by Rheinmetall which gains more than 3%.
Nasdaq in the red but some AI stocks gain big
New York is also trading in the red today, this time including the Nasdaq, which had performed very well this week, especially after the encouraging US inflation data. The Nasdaq-100 super basket is down around 0,4% at 17:30 p.m. Italian time.Some chip and AI-related stocks are actually still doing very well: Sandisk, after yesterday's rally, added another 7%, Micron +2%, AMD +4%, Nebius +5,3%, Lumentum +5%. On the other hand, Broadcom lost 6%, SpaceX 3%, and traditional big tech companies are in the red, particularly Tesla -1% and Amazon -0,5%. Bitcoin dropped 1% and ended up below $63.000, while The euro is rising against the US dollar, bringing the exchange rate closer to 1,16..
Oil prices below $90 a barrel. France faces a fuel emergency.
Brent oil rose more than 5% this week to $88 a barrel, as the United States intensifies economic pressure on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington will take unprecedented economic measures while maintaining the naval blockade of Iranian ports; further announcements are expected next week. WTI Crude Oil is trading just below $82 a barrel.
Fuel emergency in France, where the climate crisis is added to the energy crisis This has brought the Rhine River to levels too low to be navigable and thus unable to supply fuel to eastern Germany. The water level of the Rhine, on the German side, has fallen to an all-time low of 130 centimeters. European natural gas prices also continue to rise, surpassing €61 per megawatt-hour, the highest since the last week of July. Gold is approaching $4.400 an ounce again, silver re-pegs $65 an ounce.
Defense is the protagonist at Piazza Affari with Fincantieri
Finally, Piazza Affari closed in negative territory. The market continues to reward European rearmament Thus, among the best performing stocks today, Fincantieri (+3,2%) and Leonardo (+1%) stand out. The US factor is also having a positive impact on the Trieste-based group: with the memorandum "Rebuilding the United States Navy and America's shipbuilding industrial base," signed last night by President Donald Trump, the United States has taken another step toward a rapid revitalization of its shipbuilding industry. It's no coincidence that, commenting on the half-year results, CEO Pierroberto Folgiero highlighted that Fincantieri will be "an integral part of the revitalization of the US shipbuilding industry".
Another brilliant stock today is Amplifon +2,5%Campari and Unipol also gained more than 1%. Meanwhile, Prysmian, down 2%, Enel, down 2%, Stm, down 1,9%, and Italgas, down 1,6%. Banks are generally starting off mid-August with a healthy start: among the best performers are Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, up 0,7% two days before the eagerly anticipated Palio, but also Mediolanum, up 0,8%, Banco BPM, up 0,65%, and Intesa Sanpaolo, up 0,6%. Unicredit, on the other hand, is in the red, down 0,2%. The BTP-Bund spread closed slightly higher., which settled at 78 basis points. The yield on the benchmark 10-year BTP rose more sharply, reaching 3,98% from 3,91% the day before.
