The FTSE MIB Index Closes 0.84% Lower

The FTSE MIB Index fell 433 points or 0.84 percent on Wednesday to close at 51372 points. Leading the losses are Banco BPM SPA (-2.06%), Brunello Cucinelli (-2.00%) and Assicurazioni Generali (-1.75%). Top gainers were Davide Campari-Milano (1.96%), Banca Mediolanum (1.74%) and Infrastrutture Wire (1.57%).

The FTSE MIB fell 0.8% to 51,372 on Wednesday, weighed down by heavyweight financials and ongoing merger talks involving Milan’s banks. Monte dei Paschi fell 1.4% after urging investors to support its dual takeover offer for Generali-controlled (-1.8%) Banca Generali and Banco BPM (-2.1%), saying that keeping the plan alive would give him more options to maximize value for shareholders. Further weighing on lender demand, higher-than-expected inflation across major economies in the Eurozone have raised bets of a third ECB rate hike by year-end. Inflation in Italy remained at a three-year high. Intesa Sanpaolo, Unipol and UniCredit each fell more than 1%. Eni declined 1.1% after announcing that its low-carbon unit Plenitude would offer households a 30% discount on its standard fixed electricity and gas rates, with prices locked in for two years. Luxury stocks also weakened, with Ferrari and Brunello Cucinelli both falling more than 1.6%. Over the third quarter, the benchmark edged 0.8% l

The FTSE MIB rose to around 52,200 on the last trading day of September, supported by broad gains across financial and utility stocks. Among banks, UniCredit rose 1.1%, while BPER Banca and FinecoBank gained 1.6% and 2.4%, respectively. Intesa Sanpaolo also advanced 0.6%, while Banca Mediolanum and Mediobanca added 2.3% and 0.9%. In utilities, Terna rose 1.4%, Snam 1.1%, Enel 0.9%, Hera 1.7% and Italgas 1.3%. Meanwhile, Eni fell 1.0%, mirroring easing crude oil prices. The benchmark index is heading for a monthly decline while remaining higher for the quarter. On the data front, Italy’s business confidence rose to 91.9 in September, above expectations of 90.5 and the highest since April 2023, while consumer confidence fell to 91.2 from 94.5, below the forecast of 94.0.