Milan stock market worsens ahead of Wall Street opening, banks sold off, Technoprobe plunges on profit-taking

Below are updates on trading in the Milan stock market:

12.40 – Piazza Affari worsens toward midday, hit particularly by a decline in the technology sector following its recent rally.

The Ftse Mib index is down 1.83% at the session lows. TECHNOPROBE is the worst performer, down 5.1% on evident profit-taking after its rally linked to AI and its entry into the main blue-chip index. STM is also lower, down 3.54%.

U.S. futures are also negative, pointing to a pullback at the open for the main indexes on Wall Street.

Banks are being sold off, with the sector index down 2.6% and UNICREDIT, down 3.3%, dragging the entire sector lower.

The oil sector is in demand, led by SAIPEM, up 1.3%.

11.20 – STELLANTIS stands out on Piazza Affari, in line with the strong recovery across the European auto sector, following reports in the foreign press that the European Union is prepared to introduce a temporary cap on imports of Chinese hybrid cars.

The reports are fueling expectations of greater protection for the European market from Asian competition, supporting shares of traditional automakers more exposed to pressure from Chinese manufacturers. Stellantis is up 2.8% within the European auto sector index, where Renault is also shining, up 4.3%, and Volksagen is up 3%

10.00 – ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP is down 15.3% after resuming trading, having failed to set an opening price because of a significant excess of sell orders. Weighing on the stock is the accelerated bookbuilding (Abb) offering of 3.4% of the capital carried out by Amber Capital and the company itself at €13.26 per share, a significant discount to yesterday’s closing price of €15.60. The share price is thus realigning with the placement levels after a long rally that had lifted the stock by about 80% since the start of the year.

9.35 – Piazza Affari opened lower, in line with the weak opening of European markets, in a session weighed down by rising crude prices, with Brent climbing above $101 a barrel, supported by Saudi Arabia-Houthi tensions and the storm in the Gulf of Mexico.

Also weighing on equity markets, which are pulling back from the previous session’s gains, is the rise in bond yields. The widening of the spread between 10-year BTPs and Bunds to around 110 basis points is weighing on bank stocks, which are down an average of 1% in Milan, also dragging the Ftse Mib index lower, down 1%.

In addition to banks, selling is also spreading to technology stocks, which are being hit by profit-taking after the recent rally. TECHNOPROBE is down 3.2%, STM 2%, and PRYSMIAN 2.9%.

Among the few positive performers in the Ftse Mib are telecom stocks (INWIT and TELECOM TLIT.MI> both up around 2%), and oil stocks SAIPEM, TENARIS and ENI, tracking crude prices. STELLANTIS is also doing well, up 1.6%.