The last Monday of September is providing mixed signals for Western financial markets. Before entering a decisive geopolitical month (in addition to the well-known tensions, elections in Brazil and, more importantly, Israel at the end of the month and the US midterms at the beginning of November), European stock markets seem slightly less dismal today than Wall StreetThe drivers have been the same for a few weeks now: oil which continues to travel at very high prices and which is now appreciating further, artificial intelligence which must understand what to do when it grows up and which is now sinking the Nasdaq, and government bond yields, with The 10-year US Treasury bond continues to rise, exceeding 5,2%., just shy of the 2007 record of 5,3%.
Nasdaq in deep trouble but Nvidia is bucking the trend: here's why
Let's start right from overseas. Tech is in the news today, struggling hard: the Nasdaq Composite Index is down around 1%., while the Nasdaq-100 superbasket is doing even worse. Among the most traded stocks, Nvidia reappears, gaining more than 2% in a buck-the-trend, while Micron -4%, Meta -4,3%, AMD -5%, Tesla -3,2%, Amazon -1%, SpaceX -0,8%, Qualcomm -6,6%, Intel -6,3%, Lumentum -6%, Sandisk -5,5% are flopping. The stocks in positive territory are really just a handful and among these one of the best is precisely Nvidia, on the day of the announcement of a increase of the buyback program by an additional $150 billion, bringing the total to $235 billion. Furthermore, there are reports that China, following the Trump-Xi Jinping meeting at the White House, may authorize Alibaba, ByteDance, and other companies to purchase Nvidia's RTX PRO 5500 graphics.
Brent crude oil surpasses $107 a barrel, as gold and silver plummet.
Oil prices rose by more than 3% today: Brent crude once again exceeded $107 a barrel, while WTI crude oil returned to the $100 mark, reaching around $95 a barrel. The surge demonstrates a certain mistrust in the markets regarding the good news that occasionally comes from the Middle East, such as that of theSaudi Arabia has resumed crude oil shipments through the East-West pipeline, following the repair of damage caused by drone strikes earlier this month. Approximately 3,5 million barrels of crude oil pass through the facility per day, thus restoring an important alternative export route. European natural gas also rose, once again above 73 euros per megawatt hour. Gold and silver, on the other hand, are plunging: the former returns to $4.100 an ounce, the latter loses 5% to $61 an ounce.
The 10-year T-Bond yield exceeds 5,2%. The BTP-Bund spread approaches 100 basis points.
On the currency and bond front, The US dollar remains strong against the euro today, with the exchange rate still well below 1,14. Bitcoin lost more than 2%, falling to $83.000. As mentioned, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury Bond remains a cause for concern, at over 5,2%, the highest in over 19 years. The yield on our benchmark 10-year BTP rises to its highest since October 2023, reaching 4,6% today, with the spread with the Bund rising again, approaching 100 basis points again, which if reached would be the highest since June 20, 2025. The spread between the German Bund and the French OAT also remains very high, today above 110 points, with the yield on the French bond close to 4,8%.
European stock markets deflate at the end. Eni and luxury goods do well on the Milan Stock Exchange.
Finally, the European stock markets weakened at the last minute: Milan -0,2%, Paris at par, London -0,1%, Frankfurt -0,1%. Among the best stocks at Piazza Affari, Amplifon stands out +6% followed by Eni + 2 %, following the move to cap the cost of fuel for consumers at road and motorway petrol pumps. The initiative is appreciable in many ways as it provides relief to millions of citizens, but it has not completely calmed the protests also because it ends up harm small oil companies, which do not have the same room for maneuver as a giant like Eni. However Luxury also bounces back with Moncler +2,6% and Brunello Cucinelli +2%The worst-performing stocks, however, were: Inwit -2,7%, Ferrari -2,55%, Enel -2,2%, and Tim -1,7%. Outside the main basket, Danieli's nosedive was 15,4%. The banks in no particular order: Intesa Sanpaolo -0,4%, Unicredit +0,4%, Mediolanum +1,25%, Finecobank -0,87%.
