MILAN (Reuters) – Piazza Affari is falling again today, punished by a sharp decline in the Tokyo stock market this morning in a more general context of profit-taking in markets after a run since the beginning of the year.
Weighing on stock markets were fears of a slowdown in the United States and uncertainty about Japan’s central bank’s tightening path, which dampened interest in risk assets.
By 10.40am it had lost 1.3%, sliding to its lowest level since February 22nd.
Italian banks are still under pressure, in line with the negative trend at the European level. The Italian index lost 1.7%, while the European index lost 1.3%. According to a trader, these are gains in a sector that has risen significantly and, therefore, when they fall the volatility is greater. Today, many newspapers are again writing about the hypothesis that the government will introduce some kind of levy on credit institutions and insurance companies, and possibly on other sectors such as energy and luxury. Equita wrote that “it is clear that the imprudence regarding the desire to hit banks’ profits again is a disruptive element, increasing the perceived risk of the sector”.
UniCredit (BIT:) lost 1.3%, Intesa (BIT:) fared worse with a 2% drop. Bper (BIT:) fell 1.6% and Mps (BIT:) 2.5%.
Stm (EPA: ) fell sharply, down 3.7%, after Intel (NASDAQ: ) tumbled after the announcement of spending and staff cuts.
Eurogroup Lamination operates outside the main basket, advancing 6.6% after the announcement of its entry into the Indian market with the acquisition of 40% of Kumar precision stamping and a cost of less than 20 million euros. The company announced yesterday the signing of an MoU with Chinese Hixih for a JV in China.
Finally, Ferragamo (BIT:) and Pirelli (BIT:) rallied well, respectively rising 2.8% and 1.2% post results.
(Giancarlo Navach, editing by Claudia Cristoferi)