Piazza Affari is cautious given the stalemate on tariffs (even if we are moving towards a 15% EU-US agreement) and above all the new wait-and-see attitude of the European Central Bank, which after eight cuts in one year, in the meeting today left interest rates unchanged. President Christine Lagarde had been hinting at this for weeks and reiterated it today: from fighting inflation, which has returned "in line with the 2% target," there is a shift to caution in the face of "the exceptional uncertainty" triggered by tariffs. On which, however, there is air of understanding between the European Union and Washington, but according to the Confindustria research center, Italy has little to celebrate, given that according to a simulation, the 15% rate could lead to a loss of 23 billion euros for the country's economic system.
In this scenario, the Milan Stock Exchange closed weakly (-0,24%), remaining above 40 thousand points and with the BTP-Bund spread in an imperceptible rise to 87 basis points. Even weaker than the Ftse Mib is the CAC40 in Paris (-0,3%), while London (+1%) and Frankfurt (+0,4%) rebounded more tepidly. Wall Street appears mixed at about half the session, with the Dow Jones at -0,37% and the Nasdaq on the contrary, +0,3% at the time of the close of the European stock markets. Across the ocean, it should be noted that Elon Musk's bad moment continues: dumped by President Donald Trump, his empire is starting to creak and it is above all Tesla has been struggling for some time. The quarterly results presented today are the worst in over a decade, with revenue down 12% from a year ago and below market expectations: the stock thus lost almost 10%.
The case of the day is the collapse of Stm: here's why
Returning to Piazza Affari, it should be noted that it is breathing Unicredit (+1,74%) after the withdrawal from the takeover bid on Banco Bpm, which however represents a modest Pyrrhic victory for the government. Other banks rose in no particular order: Banco BPM +1,34%, Mediobanca -0,6%, Intesa Sanpaolo +1%. But the biggest headliner is undoubtedly the collapse of STM, by far the worst performer on the main index, with a loss of over 16% to €22,4 per share. The microchip group was weighed down by a quarterly report that was clearly judged to be very disappointing: stmicroelectronics In fact, it closed the first half of 2025 with a sharp decline in profits and revenues. The net loss for the period amounted to 97 million dollars and net revenues stood at 5,28 billion dollars, down 21% compared to the 6,6 billion dollars of the first half of 2024. "Our business forecast for the third quarter provide for a net revenue of $3,17 billion, down 2,5% on an annual basis,” he admitted Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of Stm, not even reassuring about the company's imminent prospects.
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The best stock is Prysmian, Acea does well after the accounts
On a day marked by quarterly results, it was instead convincing That, which in the first semester made the full of profits and revenues and sees investments proceeding at a rapid pace, across all business areas. "Innovation and new technologies will be increasingly integrated into our daily operations and into the construction of the major projects we are involved in," promised CEO Fabrizio Palermo, and meanwhile today the stock is up 2,43% to nearly 20 euros per share. It has done even better. Prysmian, which closed the session with purchases of over 3% after the news of the placing agreement for the sale, to a limited number of institutional investors, of 37,595,255 H shares of Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, equal to approximately 5% of the capital total share capital of the company, at a price of 19,50 Hong Kong dollars per share.
Oil and gold
WTI oil is swinging into positive territory, exceeding $66 a barrel, following the publication of EIA data on price variations. crude stocks In the United States, crude oil inventories are estimated to have decreased by approximately 1,4 million barrels, suggesting a favorable phase in which demand is outstripping supply. Brent crude is also rising, nearly $70 per share. Gold, on the other hand, is weak, falling to €92 per gram.
