The Italian equity market closed in negative territory on Friday, with the Investing.com Italy 40 index declining by 0.54% at the end of trading in Milan. Losses in key sectors such as Financials, Chemicals, and Telecommunications weighed on overall market performance.
Among individual stocks, Saipem SpA stood out as the best performer, registering a gain of 4.38%, closing at 2.95, reaching a three-year peak. Leonardo SpA followed, increasing 2.11% to end at 58.06, with Eni SpA also climbing 1.98% to 16.79, marking a five-year high.
Conversely, the weakest stock contributors included Nexi SpA, which dropped 4.21% to 3.71, Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario SpA, down 3.20% to 16.93, and Unipol Gruppo Finanziario Spa, which declined 3.11% to finish at 18.88.
In terms of market breadth on the Milan Stock Exchange, declining shares outnumbered advancing ones, with 404 stocks falling compared to 297 gains, while 59 remained unchanged.
Commodity markets saw robust activity as crude oil for March delivery increased by 2.66% to $60.94 per barrel. Simultaneously, Brent oil’s March contract rose by 2.59% to $65.72 per barrel. Additionally, gold futures for February delivery experienced a 1.45% uptick, trading at $4,984.80 per troy ounce.
Currency markets exhibited relative stability; the EUR/USD pair was unchanged at 1.18, and EUR/GBP remained steady at 0.87. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index Futures declined by 0.40%, settling at 97.78.