Many double-digit performances and there are also those who are close to three digits. The balance sheet of the last month on the stock market, that is, since the conflict in Ukraine broke out, sees many stocks making a big voice on the European stock exchanges, just as there are some who have paid hard duty and among them also an Italian.
The recovery of the last two weeks it also led the European stock exchanges to roughly clear the post-conflict declines, with Dax and Cac 40 snatching a slight positive sign in the one-month balance, while the Ftse Mib is still down by almost 2%. From the updated data shortly after the opening of Wall Street today, European equities significantly underperformed US equities (+ 4.5% the S&P 500 in the last month), in line with the fact that the economic repercussions of the war will have a more significant impact on the Old Continent.
Basic resources in the lead, small surprise in second place
Looking at the best sectors, the performance of Basic Resources stood out as expected with + 13%, thanks to the overwhelming rally in commodity prices. On the other hand, the second place in health care (+ 8%) is somewhat surprising, which leveraged its status as a refuge sector in moments of uncertainty such as the one unleashed by the Moscow attack on Ukraine. Third place for financial services (+ 6.9%) which leaves the energy sector off the podium (+ 6.9%). On the other hand, among the most penalized sectors, the auto & parts sector stands out (-9.7%), as well as banks (-32.6%) which, however, have recovered most of the drops in the last few sessions.
Finally, moving on to the individual titles, it was the winner with this new war scenario the German Rheinmetall, with a sumptuous + 98.3%, which becomes + 130% if you look at the YTD performance. A title that clearly benefited greatly from the Ukrainian conflict and from Germany’s decision to increase military spending considerably, with an allocation of 100 billion euros. And the prospect is that other countries will also move in this direction.
Two Italian titles also stand out among the top 10 of the last month, which are also among the best since the beginning of the year. It is about Tenaris with +51%fourth best title among those present in the Stoxx Europe 600, followed by Leonard with +48%. Just yesterday Prime Minister Draghi at a hearing in Parliament declared that too Italy will raise military spending to 2% of GDP. The timing of the implementation of the increase in defense spending is unclear, with some press sources recently speculating a gradual increase reaching the 2% target in 2026-27. Leonardo generates over 80% of turnover in the military / government business and last year generated 17% of sales in Italy and therefore it is reasonable to imagine that he will be one of the main beneficiaries of this choice.
Finally, peeking through the worst stocks in the last month, you can see some excellent names, including Renault (-22.3%), the European auto group most exposed to Russia and which just yesterday had to change its strategy by announcing the stop of the activity at the Moscow plant. Then there is the Italian bank Unicredit with -21%, also exposed to Russia with assets of approximately 5.1 billion.