(Alliance News) - On Tuesday, major European stock markets closed in negative territory, with the situation further worsened by news from Iran. This forced the US president to leave the G7 summit in Canada early and order the evacuation of American citizens residing in Tehran.
Russia, in an official statement, criticized Israel's "reluctance" to engage in de-escalation talks that would see the Kremlin play a leading role. Donald Trump, for his part, dismissed as "fake news" media reports about possible contacts between the US and Iran aimed at halting the escalation.
Axel Rudolph, Senior Technical Analyst at online trading platform IG, commented on the day: "The US President's early departure from the G7 in Canada, the downplaying of the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and the call for US citizens to evacuate Tehran have dampened risk sentiment."
"European stocks fell despite improved German investor morale, with US indices under pressure due to declining retail sales and industrial production. The Bank of Japan left rates unchanged and signaled a cautious approach to scaling back stimulus, slowing the tapering of bond purchases, but this elicited little reaction from the market."
The analyst continued: "Ongoing missile attacks between Israel and Iran have heightened fears of potential supply disruptions, pushing oil and gas prices up by around 2.5-3%. Gold extended Monday's losses, while silver rebounded thanks to a slightly stronger US dollar."
Among European financial centers, London's FTSE 100 dropped 0.5%, Paris's CAC fell 0.8%, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 lost 1.0%.
The FTSE Mib shed 1.4% to 39,387.22 points, the Mid-Cap declined 0.6% to 53,590.25, the Small-Cap slipped 0.3% to 30,813.63, while Italy Growth gained 0.1% to 8,077.84.
On the Milan Stock Exchange, Brunello Cucinelli led the way, rising 2.3% to EUR101.45 per share, following a 1.1% gain in the previous session.
Saipem also performed well, up 2.1% to EUR2.39 per share.
According to German news agency Reuters, Italy responded to EU concerns over conditions imposed on UniCredit's bid - down 3.6% to EUR55.9 - for Banco BPM - down 0.4% to EUR10 - arguing that national savings are a matter of national security.
Leonardo, down 1.8% to EUR48.2, announced Tuesday that it has entered a collaboration phase with Bombardier Defense to explore new opportunities in the maritime Multi-Mission Aircraft market.
Eni shares rose 1.1% to EUR14.15 after announcing the creation of a new company with Petronas. The agreement signed in Kuala Lumpur establishes a joint venture to manage assets in Indonesia and Malaysia through a business combination designed to ensure a sustainable medium-term production of 500 kboepd, mainly gas, leveraging total reserves of about 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent and an exploration potential of 10 billion boe.
There have been days of intense talks between the European Central Bank and the management of MPS, down 1.7% to EUR6.98, with CEO Luigi Lovaglio personally seeking approval for the public exchange offer for Mediobanca (down 1.0% to EUR19.2), the first step in a broader national financial restructuring. Mediobanca also announced the acquisition of treasury shares worth EUR8 million.
On the Mid-Cap, d'Amico topped the chart with a 3.0% increase to EUR3.7 per share, while Ariston Holding fell 2.5%.
Maire edged down 0.2% to EUR11 after signing an agreement with NextChem and NewCleo to establish NextCleo.
Gamma Intermediate announced Tuesday that it has completed the placement of 53.6 million Lottomatica Group shares - down 1.3% - representing about 21.3% of the share capital, through a private placement via accelerated bookbuilding. The sale price was set at EUR22.50 per share.
Among small caps, Digital Value stood out, marking its second consecutive positive session with a 6.6% rise to EUR30.7 per share. The company reported it had won five lots in a tender held by Consip as part of the seventh edition of the Multibrand Software Conventions.
The total value of the lots is EUR158 million, of which EUR108.4 million pertains to the group, plus more than 20% of statutory ceilings once the lots are fully utilized.
Altea Green Power also performed well, up 3.3% to EUR8.4 per share.
Met.Extra Group closed the session down 9.5%, alongside Class Editori, which dropped 11 percentage points to EUR0.16 per share.
Among SMEs, Eprcomunicazione led the pack, jumping 6.9% to EUR1.72 per share.
Maps announced that, following the fulfillment of contractually stipulated conditions precedent, it has completed the acquisition of 51% of Ellysse Srl's share capital for a total cash consideration of EUR1.7 million. The stock closed Tuesday up 2.9% to EUR3.55 per share.
Clabo - unchanged at session end - announced Tuesday that it has applied to enter a process known as "negotiated crisis composition," a non-judicial procedure designed to help financially troubled companies find solutions without involving the courts. The aim is to better manage temporary payment difficulties and avoid more serious problems.
In New York, the Dow was down 0.2% at 42,439.30, the Nasdaq lost 0.3% at 19,636.61, and the S&P 500 was down 0.3% at 6,015.29.
In currency markets, the euro traded at USD1.1513 from USD1.1591 Monday evening, while the pound was at USD1.3502 from USD1.3595 the previous evening.
In commodities, Brent crude traded at USD75.01 per barrel from USD73.23 at the previous close, while gold was valued at USD3,387.47 an ounce from USD3,384.2 an ounce the day before.
On Wednesday, the economic calendar features Japan's annual import and export data at 0150 CEST and UK inflation at 0800 CEST.
At 1100 CEST, focus shifts to Eurozone inflation, followed half an hour later by the auction of 30-year German bunds.
From 1300 CEST, attention turns to US data on mortgages, retail sales, and crude oil inventories.
The highlight of the day comes at 2000 CEST with the Federal Reserve's rate decision, followed by a press conference from Chairman Jerome Powell half an hour later.
Among Milan-listed companies, Bestbe Holding's results are expected.
By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter
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