Trump's New Tariffs Drive Markets Lower

(Alliance News) - Donald Trump's new tariffs on US allies on Monday effectively slowed down European markets, which ended trading in negative territory.

The prospect that tariffs, currently at 10%, could rise to as much as 25% for eight EU countries—should the US not acquire Greenland—led to a sharp contraction across all exchanges, while instability pushed gold prices to a new all-time high.

The Mib fell by 1.3% to 45,195.89 points, the Mid-Cap lost 1.0% to 60,735.64, the Small-Cap dropped 0.6% to 37,631.13, and Italy Growth saw sales of 0.8% to 8,794.83.

Other exchanges also closed lower: the CAC 40 by 1.8%, the DAX 40 by 1.3%, and the FTSE 100 by 0.4%.

"The introduction of new tariffs," commented IG, "came out of nowhere over the weekend and duly triggered a modest sell-off in global equity markets. The move was exacerbated by the prevailing calm in trading during a US holiday. But, viewed in context, this has not yet registered as a market event," concluded Chris Beauchamp.

On Piazza Affari, as for Ferrari, which declined by 2.5%, sentiment may have cooled, but consensus remains positive: according to Bloomberg, 'buy' ratings still prevail, with an average target of EUR388 and potential upside of around 25%.

The market continues to believe in Ferrari's ability to create value but calls for patience and greater clarity on the next industrial chapter.

Azimut—down 0.7%—announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Unifinance Group, a company with a strong presence in wealth management in the Ultra High Net Worth segment and significant penetration among institutional clients. The aim is to strengthen its position in Brazil.

Mitch Collett of Deutsche Bank Research notes that for the fourth quarter, expectations for Campari—down 1.1%—are for organic revenue growth of 1.6% and organic operating profit growth of 4.0%.

Abet, one of the leading international players in decorative laminate production with a commercial presence in over 90 countries, secured EUR20 million in financing from Banco BPM, down 0.2%, aimed at expanding its production capacity in North America.

UniCredit—down 1.5%—has finalized a green loan of EUR73 million for Teike, the third-largest independent pure player in the Italian public lighting sector, wholly owned by Pioneer Infrastructure Partners.

Hera has acquired the Sostelia group. The transaction, with a total value of EUR138 million, is expected to contribute over EUR20 million to the consolidated EBITDA of the multi-utility at full capacity. The stock gained 0.3%.

Leonardo, buoyed by commercial and geopolitical tensions, managed to record gains of 1.7% to EUR60.00 per share.

Inwit moved into positive territory with a 1.2% gain, along with DiaSorin.

On the Mid-Cap, the board of Alerion Clean Power—down 0.7%—approved the issue of a senior unsecured, non-convertible, non-subordinated bond loan worth EUR200 million, with the possibility to increase by a further maximum of EUR100 million.

Intermonte confirms its 'buy' recommendation on PharmaNutra and raises its target price to EUR88.00 from EUR84.00, in light of preliminary sales data for the 2025 financial year published on January 19.

Compared to Friday's close at EUR59.50, the revised target price implies a potential upside of over 48%. The stock closed up 6.6%.

Kepler Cheuvreux confirms its 'buy' recommendation on Ferretti—down 0.6%—with a target price of EUR4.10, unchanged from the October 2025 update. Compared to the January 16 close at EUR3.64, the target price implies a potential upside of about 13%.

Juventus Football Club shares ended trading at the bottom of the list, down 3.2% to EUR2.69 per share.

On the Small-Cap, FILA, down 0.5%, completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Seven. The agreement provides for the acquisition of 100% of Seven's capital in five tranches by December 31, 2028. Specifically, FILA acquired 51% of Seven's capital for nearly EUR26.8 million.

As revealed by Reuters, activist investor Amber Capital has questioned the takeover bid launched by US technology group Crane NXT for Antares Vision, which was up 2.4%.

According to Amber Capital, the binding mandatory offer for the remaining 41% of the capital, at EUR5.00 per share, does not adequately reflect the company's value.

OPS eCom announced that, due to the non-receipt of a document, the Business Register cancelled the request, which was then resubmitted, for protective measures filed as part of the CNC procedure. The stock fell 7.6%.

Beewize led the basket with gains of 10% to EUR0.435 per share.

Among SMEs, SG Company announced Monday that consolidated revenue last year was EUR50.1 million, up 29% from EUR38.7 million as of September 30, and up 45% from the full year 2024, which was EUR34.6 million. The stock gained 7.1%.

BackSpin announced the closing of the acceptance period for the full mandatory takeover bid for Spindox. BackSpin will hold a total of 98.7% of Spindox's capital.

Cofle fell 5.5% to EUR2.90 per share, while TPS rose 8.1% to EUR8.65 per share.

On the currency front, the euro changed hands at USD1.1645 from USD1.1598 at Friday's European equity close, while the pound traded at USD1.3432 from USD1.3391 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent traded at USD64.11 per barrel from USD64.41 per barrel on Friday, while gold was valued at USD4,671.09 an ounce from USD4,599.53 an ounce on Friday evening.

Tuesday's economic calendar at 0800 CET features UK unemployment data and, at the same time, German producer prices.

At 1045 CET, a speech by BoE's Bailey is expected, while at 2230 CET there will be a US report on weekly oil inventories.

Results from B&C Speakers are expected on Piazza Affari.

By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter

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