Le European stock exchanges close in sharp decline, weakened by the new escalation in the Middle East where attacks on energy infrastructure In Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, fears of a global energy supply crisis have been rekindled. The conflict has prompted the Petroleum towards significant increases: Brent stands at around 115 dollars a barrel, WTI at 97 dollars, while gas natural gas is running towards 70 euros per megawatt hour. Geopolitical tension adds to the weakness of Wall Street, penalized by the decision of the Fed di leave rates unchanged and by the upwardly revised inflation forecasts, which increase uncertainty about the economic scenarios for the coming months.
Taxi farm on all major fronts: the ECB confirmed unchanged rates, while they also remain at a standstill in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, with the Bank of England at 3,75%.
READ MORE Stock markets plunge after hawkish remarks from the Fed and BoJ, with all eyes on the ECB and BoE. di G. Bruschi
In Milan the Ftse Mib loses more than 2%, feeling the effects of the global wave of mistrust. Among the few stocks to survive, Eni is holding up thanks to the boost from oil and the presentation of its industrial plan for 2029, while Iveco It is holding up thanks to a higher-than-expected coupon. Other sectors are struggling to limit their losses: Inwit suffers from the joint venture between Telecom Italia and Fastweb+Vodafone for 6.000 new towers, which according to analysts could reduce its market share. Even the spread The spread between BTPs and Bunds reflects the climate of uncertainty: the 10-year spread rises to 86 points, with the yield on the Italian 10-year at 3,86%. All European markets fared poorly, with Frankfurt in the red.
The tension is also reflected on the Asian markets: Nikkei closed down 3,38%, penalized by rising oil prices and technology stocks. Bank of Japan ha rate confirmed at 0,75%, warning however that inflation could accelerate due to energy costs, while industrial data showed a contraction in machinery orders and manufacturing, balanced by a slight increase in industrial production.
On the precious metals front, their loses ground penalized by expectations of further rate hikes, reducing the gain since the beginning of the year to +10%, while silver remains almost flat.euro/dollar remains stable around 1,14 and the Bitcoin drops towards 70 thousand dollars.
