Italian shares finished the session higher on Wednesday, driven by advances in the Technology, Financials and Industrials sectors.
At the close in Milan the Italy 40 index rose 3.65%, marking a new one-month high for the benchmark.
The session's top performers included Prysmian SpA (BIT:PRY), which surged 9.79% - a 10.25-point increase - to close at 115.00. Brunello Cucinelli (BIT:BCU) climbed 8.20%, adding 6.12 points to finish at 80.78, and Buzzi Unicem (BIT:BZU) gained 7.93%, up 3.45 points to 46.98 by the market close.
On the downside, several energy-sector names were among the weakest. Eni SpA (BIT:ENI) fell 5.57%, down 1.38 points to 23.50 at the close. Tenaris SA (BIT:TENR) declined 1.15%, losing 0.29 points to end at 25.03, and Snam SpA (BIT:SRG) slipped 0.48%, down 0.03 points to 6.68.
Market breadth was strongly positive: 658 stocks advanced on the Milan exchange versus 174 that declined, and 24 finished unchanged.
Shares of Prysmian (BIT:PRY) rose to an all-time high in the session, finishing 9.79% higher at 115.00.
Commodity markets registered notable moves during the trading day. Crude oil for May delivery plunged 16.18%, a decline of $18.27, to settle at $94.68 a barrel. Brent oil for June delivery fell 13.69%, losing $14.96 to trade at $94.31 a barrel. In metals, the June gold futures contract increased 2.09%, a rise of $98.02, to trade at $4,782.72 a troy ounce.
In currency trading, the euro strengthened against the dollar with EUR/USD up 0.73% to 1.17. EUR/GBP was essentially unchanged, moving 0.24% to 0.87. The U.S. Dollar Index Futures fell 1.02%, trading at 98.67.
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