Western stock markets started the week and the month of June negatively, with the partial exception of the Nasdaq which is travelling above par driven by the usual Artificial Intelligence. After a month of May unusually profitable, what is worrying the financial markets are the new tensions in the Middle East, with peace that now seems very far away again after having seemed practically achieved at the end of last week. This obviously gives new impetus to oil which however remains below 100 dollars a barrelBoth Brent and WTI crude oil are gaining around 7% today, settling at $97 and $94 a barrel, respectively, at the close of trading on European stock markets. Milan is down 0,52%, Paris is down 0,45%, Frankfurt is down 0,44%, London is down 0,8%, and the Dow Jones is down 0,3%.
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In America, the Nasdaq bucks the trend, AI soars with Nvidia and Micron.
Overseas, technology stocks are supporting the Nasdaq index, particularly those related to artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and data centers. Nvidia, for example, is rising again, up 4,2% after a small post-report decline. Micron continues its wild rally +5,6%, confirming itself more and more as the stock of the moment and of 2026, then Dell +8% and Sandisk +3% still doing very well, while among the so-called traditional big tech companies only Microsoft stands out +2,5%. Apple, Meta, Google, Amazon and Tesla are in the red. Among the current stocks, only Qualcomm is falling, down 7% today. Palantir +1,5%. Bitcoin loses more than 3% today and falls to $71.000, the lowest since mid-April.
Commodities, spreads, T-Bonds, euro-dollar exchange rate
In addition to the jump in crude oil, it is worth noting that European natural gas prices rose more than 6% on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange to 49 euros per megawatt hour. Still nothing to do for gold and silver which have not had much to say for some timeThe former remains around $4.500 an ounce, or even slightly lower today, while the latter fluctuates around $75 an ounce. The BTP-Bund spread is rising dangerously, currently at 76 basis points (+5,5%), with the 10-year BTP yield at 3,76%. The dollar has strengthened significantly against the euro, bringing the exchange rate back to the low 1,16. Regarding government bonds, the US T-Bond yields remain high: the 30-year is still around 5%..
Energy prices soar on the Milan Stock Exchange thanks to oil, while Avio takes profits.
Milan finally lost 0,52% to 49.775 points, in a session marked by the Avio tumbled -8,45%, but it was coming from a long and robust rally, which led it to gain 25% in the last monthDefense stocks are generally down: Leonardo -3,6%, Fincantieri -4%. Banks are also struggling: Intesa Sanpaolo -2%, Mediobanca -1,9% the worst performers. On the other hand, it's a decidedly favorable day for energy stocks: Tenaris +3,2% is the best performer, followed by Saipem +2,7%, and Eni +2,2%. Stm, Poste Italiane and Telecom Italia also bucked the trendOutside the main FTSE MIB basket, Virgin Galactic soars +45%.
