There is literally no peace on the international front and so after all that the markets have already absorbed on Ukraine, Venezuela and Greenland, the week begins with two more open fronts: the violent repression of protests in Iran but above all, to remain strictly financial, the latest clash between US President Donald Trump and his country's central bank. What shook both European and American stock markets on Monday was the news that the US Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation against Powell regarding the restructuring of the Federal Reserve's headquarters. Governor Jerome Powell's immediate irritated reaction: "It's a pretext from the White House," to put even more pressure on an institution whose top management Trump is eager to replace in order to proceed with a less prudent monetary policy on rate cuts.
Wall Street opens mixed, with Fincantieri and some banks standing out at Piazza Affari
Additionally, President Trump has called for a interest rate cap credit card rates at 10% starting January 20th, and this proposal has inevitably weighed on all financial sector stocks. The result is that Wall Street started the first session of the week like this, with the Dow Jones falling 0,2% while the Nasdaq, which focuses primarily on other sectors, namely technology, advanced albeit timidly, by 0,2%, driven mainly by Tesla, which rose by more than 1%. In Europe, however, Piazza Affari reached parity at the last minute at 45.732 basis points, with industrial stocks dominating, as we have often seen in recent weeks: Fincantieri gained a further 3,85% (+10% in the last month), and Buzzi also rose by more than 3%. This time, after a cautious start to 2026,even the banks are highlightedMPS +2,1%, Banco BPM +2%. Speaking of MPS, Deutsche Bank wrote The shareholder impact of a €2,4 billion buyback and the potential merger with UniCredit: the Siena stock's total return could rise from 11% to a staggering 15%. Stellantis and Lottomatica, on the other hand, saw heavy losses, while Italgas and Cucinelli also took profits after last week's gains.
Oil, commodities, spreads and the euro-dollar
Elsewhere on the continent, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is reacting better to financial tensions, rising half a percentage point, while Paris is just below parity and London and Madrid are just above it. Raw materials, however, continue to dominate the market, and especially oil, especially in these times and given the countries involved in conflict, not coincidentally. Her Majesty, black gold, has never been so prominent as in recent weeks. scores another very solid session With Brent crude now approaching $64 a barrel and WTI crude smelling the $60 mark, after starting the year at $55 a barrel. Precious metals and rare earths, given the risk-taking game triggered by Trump, are also continuing their rally: gold is at $4.620 an ounce, but silver is doing even better, gaining 8%, now consolidating well above the $80 an ounce mark reached last week (it's at $86 today). Palladium is also doing well, hovering around $1.880. In this context, the BTP-Bund spread narrows further around 62 basis points, with the 10-year BTP yield at 3,42%. The euro appreciated slightly against the dollar, trading at 1,167.
