Italian
Black Friday for Piazza Affari, which closed with a 6.5% plunge, marking its worst day in years and placing itself at the bottom of the list of European stock exchanges, all heavily in the red
MILAN. Market tension has skyrocketed after the escalation of the trade war between the United States and China, triggered by the new tariffs announced by Washington and the immediate countermeasures by Beijing. The atmosphere resembles that of major systemic crises, and investors are acting with the speed and irrationality typical of moments of panic.
FTSE MIB plunges: banks and industry in turmoil
The FTSE MIB index has sunk, dragged down mainly by the banking sector, notoriously sensitive to market shocks and economic uncertainty. The performances speak for themselves: BPER, MPS, Unicredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco BPM – all heavyweight names – have recorded double-digit declines. The issue is not only related to tariffs: it is the prospect of a global slowdown that is shaking the fundamentals of Italian banks, still exposed to a fragile domestic economy and high levels of debt.
The situation didn’t improve for the industry: Leonardo lost 12%, followed by Iveco and Stellantis, which were penalized both by the possible slowdown in exports and the increase in production costs in an inflationary scenario. The spiral of uncertainty affects precisely those sectors that are most dependent on international integration and the smooth flow of trade.
Europe shakes, Wall Street doesn’t hold up
Italy has been the worst, but no one in Europe can consider themselves safe. London lost 5%, Paris and Frankfurt over 4%, Madrid nearly 6%. The picture is consistent: markets are pricing in the concrete risk of a synchronized recession, with all major economies slowing down simultaneously, as has not happened since 2020.
From the United States come the most worrying signals. Thursday had been the worst session for Wall Street since 2020, but Friday did even worse: Dow Jones lost 5.5%, the S&P 500 almost 6%, while the Nasdaq fell by 5.8%, reflecting investors’ nervousness in the face of an increasingly gloomy context. Technology stocks, often a safe haven in turbulent times, are now among the most exposed, especially considering the risk of a rate hike against the backdrop of economic slowdown.
A crisis of trust more than numbers
It’s not just a matter of tariffs or macroeconomic forecasts. The real enemy of the markets today is uncertainty. When political logics become more influential than economic rules, the market goes into defensive mode, and fleeing from risky assets is a natural consequence. The reactions of the stock exchanges – exaggerated but not unjustified – reflect a broader crisis of confidence, where protectionist policies undermine decades of commercial interdependence.
