Piazza Affari closes the first half of the year in a sprint, Ftse Mib at its highest since 2008

A day dedicated to purchases for Piazza Affari and the other European stock exchanges, with the Ftse Mib closing the week and the semester above 28,000 points for the first time since January 2022. A sign of strength for the main Milan index, which closed the session up 1.08% to 28,230.83 points, the highest since 2008. Purchases in particular on Iveco (+3.7%), which renews its commitment with Shell for zero-emission mobility, and Erg (+3.7%) after the sale of the Priolo plant for 190 million. Diasorin (+3%) and Prysmian (+3.4%) are also picking up while Leonardo (-0.3%) finishes just below parity. Eurozone inflation data were released during the day, which showed a slowdown to 5.5% in June from 6.1% in May. The core figure, however, accelerated from 5.3% to 5.4%, reinforcing the prospect of two more rate hikes by the ECB. In the US, the core PCE (one of the Fed’s favorite inflation measures) slowed slightly, from 4.7% to 4.6%, without significantly changing expectations on the central bank’s next moves, after Powell left the on the table the hypothesis of two consecutive squeezes in July and September. Supporting sentiment are hopes of further economic stimulus in China, after June data showed weaker-than-expected growth in services and contraction in manufacturing activity. In FX, euro/dollar moved back above 1.09 while dollar/yen stabilized at 144.6 after Japan’s finance minister said the government would respond appropriately to any excessive movement in the currency market. China’s central bank also said it would step in to prop up the yuan, which is at a 15-year low. Among the raw materials, oil (Brent) climbed back to 75.6 dollars a barrel. On bonds, the BTP-Bund spread remains virtually unchanged at 167 basis points with the Italian 10-year bond at 4.06%.