To represent the performance of the Italian stock market, various stock market indices have been created. Each of them includes a basket of companies listed on Piazza Affari, selected on the basis of certain parameters, including size, belonging to a specific industrial sector or compliance with specific governance, transparency and liquidity requirements. The main stock indices of the Italian Stock Exchange are examined below, with particular reference to their composition and recent market performances.
The main markets of Piazza Affari
Before reviewing the most important indices of Piazza Affari, it is worth introducing the most well-known stock markets and segments of the Italian Stock Exchange.
Euronext Milan it is the regulated market aligned with international best practices, includes medium and large capitalization companies and represents a gateway for investors from all over the world.
Euronext STAR Milan is the High Requirements Securities Segment, a section of the Euronext Milan market dedicated to small and medium-sized businesses that adhere to stringent governance, transparency and liquidity requirements, particularly appreciated by investors.
Euronext Growth Milan, on the other hand, is the market dedicated to SMEs, which allows small companies to appear on the stock exchange with a balanced regulatory approach. The Professional Segment has been created within Euronext Growth Milan, reserved for companies (SMEs, startups or scale-ups) that want to gradually access the markets and professional investors.
The Italian Stock Exchange indices
Let us now examine the main indices of the Italian Stock Exchange, starting from FTSE Italia All-Sharethe overall index that includes all the shares listed on Euronext Milan.
Il FTSE MIB it is the reference index of the Italian market and includes the top 40 shares by capitalization and liquidity of Euronext Milan. It is a price index (calculated without taking into account the dividends paid by companies) and weighted based on the free float-adjusted market capitalization. Within the index, no share can have a weight greater than 15% of the basket.
Il FTSE Italia Mid Cap includes the top 60 stocks by market capitalization not included in the FTSE MIB.
Il FTSE Italia Small Cap includes all companies not included in the FTSE MIB and FTSE Italia Mid Cap, selected after the application of filters on free float and liquidity.
Il FTSE Italia STAR it is the index that tracks the performance of the STAR Segment. It should be noted that a company belonging to the FTSE Italia STAR is also part of one of the three previous indices (FTSE MIB, FTSE Italia Mid Cap or FTSE Italia Small Cap).
Finally, the FTSE Italia Growth it is the benchmark of the Euronext Growth Milan market.
The performance of Italian stock indices
Below, the performances of the main indices are reported over a time horizon of 1 month, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years. The Ftse Mib, in particular, returned to 2008 levels thanks to an increase of over 22.6% in the last 12 months and 45% in two years.
Positive trend also for Mid Capswhich achieved a gain of 12.5% in the last half-year, while Small Caps and Ftse Italia Growth show much more limited or even negative performances over some time horizons.
Stock Market indices
Last price
1 month change
6 month variation
1 year change
2 year variation
FTSE Italia All-Share
35.561,30
5,8%
16,4%
20,6%
41,1%
FTSE MIB
33.434,28
6,3%
17,0%
22,6%
45,1%
FTSE Italia Mid Cap
46.335,28
1,7%
12,5%
5,9%
12,5%
FTSE Italia Small Cap
27.377,36
-0,5%
3,2%
-9,3%
-2,7%
FTSE Italia STAR
46.096,77
-1,5%
5,6%
-6,0%
-10,7%
FTSE Italia Growth
8.069,26
-0,7%
-7,8%
-14,5%
-18,6%
Source: Bloomberg, processed by the FOL Research Office, data as of 12 March
Cyclical and countercyclical sectors
Another company classification criterion is linked to the sector of economic activity, which can be for example finance, energy, technology or public services. THE different sectors are generally divided into two main categories: cyclical and countercyclical.
The first includes those sectors that are highly correlated with the economic cycle and which therefore tend to perform well in expansion phases, while they tend to struggle more when the economy is in recession or growing at a weak pace. Some examples of cyclical sectors are automotive, finance, technology, industrial services, construction, travel and leisure.
Conversely, i Counter-cyclical sectors are those whose performance is more independent of the cycle, since demand tends not to decrease even in phases of economic contraction or slowdown. Among these we can mention utilities, food, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications.
In light of these characteristics, cyclical securities are generally more interesting for investors in expansionary phases of the economy, while countercyclical, or defensive, securities are favored in periods of uncertainty.
The distinction between cyclical and countercyclical is therefore important from a portfolio diversification perspective. In any case, we must not take this distinction too schematically, remembering that there may be other specific elements capable of influencing the performance of securities and sectors.
The stock market performance of the sectoral indices of Piazza Affari
As can be seen from the table, in the last month the sectors that have shown the greatest gains are Raw Materials (+14,5%), Discretionary Goods (+8%) e Finance (+7.4%), while at the rear we find Real Estate (-20.4%), Telecommunications (-11.3%, in the wake of the collapse of Telecom Italia) and Basic Necessities (-3.7%).
For greater understanding, it should be noted that Raw Materials include Construction and Chemicals, Consumer Discretionary Goods include Automotive, Retail, Media, Consumer Products and Services and Travel and Leisure, while Finance includes Banking, Insurance and Financial Services.
Source: Italian Stock Exchange
The best and worst sectors of the last month essentially confirm the trend of the last year. All in all, the financial sector is the one that has performed best in the last two yearsbenefiting more from the high interest rate scenario, which instead penalized the real estate sector in particular.
Sector indices
Last price
1 month change
6 month variation
1 year change
2 year variation
FTSE Italia Raw Materials 32,795.74 14.5% 9.4% 19.3% 58.0% FTSE Italia Consumer Discretionary Goods 37,939.45 8.0% 32.2% 38.0% 76.8% FTSE Italia Finance 20,180 .39 7.4% 27.3% 32.6% 75.7% FTSE Italia Industry 45,032.62 6.8% 10.8% 4.7% 22.8% FTSE Italia Energy 18,007.38 5.3% 0.2% 8.7% 11.8% FTSE Italia Healthcare 247,758.56 5.1% 11.8% 11.2% -1.8% FTSE Italia Public Services 35,167.31 3.6% -0. 4% 13.7% 5.1% FTSE Italia Technology 159,694.31 -0.3% 7.8% -4.9% 16.6% FTSE Italia Basic Necessities 162,721.25 -3.7% -14 .2% -6.5% -0.2% FTSE Italia Telecommunications 8,119.76 -11.3% -19.7% -19.0% -7.7% FTSE Italia Real Estate 4,980.51 -20.4% -31.5% -46.2% -54.2%
Source: Bloomberg, processed by the FOL Research Office, data to March 12th