Difficult closing for European stock markets, overwhelmed by widespread sales and a sharp increase in volatility on shares and government bonds. Milan recorded the worst performance in the Old Continent, dropping more than 2.5% and slipping below the 48,400 point mark.
Rise in raw materials
The downsizing of the technology sector, triggered by doubts about the valuations of the artificial intelligence giants and the unconvincing accounts of key quarterly reports such as Half And Tesla. The climate of risk aversion is then fueled by the sharp rise in energy raw materials – with Brent above 111 dollars and gas at 90 euros/MWh – driven by geopolitical tensions and fears of a new escalation on the Iranian front.
Spread at 126 basis points
At the same time, strong shocks are being recorded on the bond market. The mistrust concentrated on politics and on French public debt pushed the yields of the ten-year Oat above 5.10% (to the highest since 2002), widening the Paris-Berlin spread beyond 170 basis points. The contagion effect is also being felt on Italian BTPs: the spread with the Bund rises to 126 basis points, with the yield on the Italian 10-year bond increasing to 4.59%, while investors seek shelter in the purchase of German government bonds.
On Piazza Affari the sales hit tech and industrial stocks hard (Prysmian, Technoprobe, Saipem) together with the entire banking sector (Unicredit, Intesa, Banco Bpm). Among the few exceptions bucking the trend are Inwit and the luxury sector with Moncler and Cucinelli.