The first week of August started off generally well on Western financial markets, encouraged by the improvement of the geopolitical situation and the drop in oil prices. However, many unknowns remain in the artificial intelligence and semiconductor markets, in the wake of the 5% fall in Seoul's Kospi index, characterized by heavy sales in large technology stocks, in particular Sk Hynix and Samsung both on -9%Tokyo also performed poorly, losing nearly 1% after the US maneuver to halt what was considered an excessive depreciation of the yen. The US Treasury, for the first time in 30 years, conducted a coordinated operation with Japan to acquire yen by selling euros.
The best stock on the Ftse Mib is Brunello Cucinelli
In this scenario, Piazza Affari stands out among the best performing stock markets of the day closing near 53.000 points with +1,3%. To begin with, the positive sentiment has pushed investors towards cyclical and luxury stocks today: here's why Brunello Cucinelli shines on the FTSE MIB +5%, after the stock had been penalised in the previous sessions following the downgrade by Bank of America, and in Paris among the best performers are Lvmh +2,5%, EssilorLuxottica +3,4%, Hermes +1,9%. In Milan, Avio +4,3% and Diasorin +4,6% also did very well and a day with the banks in great shapeBper +3,2%, Unicredit +2,7%, Intesa Sanpaolo +2,4%. Eni, on the other hand, is down -1,2% due to the drop in oil prices, and Stm, in line with the international sector, is down -0,85%.
US-Iran negotiations bring WTI oil below $80
Crude oil is down about 5% today after US President Donald Trump Trump canceled the planned military strike against Iran and announced the start of new negotiations with Tehran. Trump said that regional allies, including Saudi Arabia, urged Washington to pursue diplomatic channels. Markets are grateful: WTI Crude Oil falls below $80 a barrelBrent is around 83 dollars, while European natural gas also takes a big leap backwards, falling to 57 euros per megawatt hour. Gold and silver moved substantially little: the first easily defends the 4.000 dollars per ounce, the second does not go beyond 57 dollars.
Micron and Apple in the red on the Nasdaq, but Meta is soaring.
Interlocutory session for Wall Street. The Nasdaq Composite Index gains nearly 2%, but some strategic stocks are recording significant losses: Micron -1%, Apple -1,3%, Nxp Semiconductors -3%. On the other hand, Amazon +4,6% and Microsoft +4% are doing very well, always in the wake of the excellent quarterly results of last week, but also Nvidia -3%, Google +4,6% and Meta which collects almost 7%Following the latest results and business guidance, several investment banks have revised their target price for Zuckerberg's group upwards. Watch out for Nebius, which is once again among the best titles with almost 12%. Netflix +2%.
Other European stock exchanges, the euro-dollar exchange rate and the spread
Even Bitcoin is smiling today, approaching $64.000 again. The euro-dollar exchange rate remains above 1,15In Europe, only London closed in the red -0,2%, followed by Paris +1,2%, Frankfurt +1,6%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 +1,15%. The BTP Bund spread ended the session down at 79 basis points., from 81 points at last Friday's closing. The yield on the benchmark 10-year BTP fell even more sharply, closing the session at 3,94% from the previous benchmark of 4,01%.
The data is updated around 18pm Italian time.
