European markets decline, focus on oil with the IEA

European markets opened lower on Thursday morning. Investors continue to monitor the conflict in the Middle East and, above all, to keep a close eye on oil market volatility.

The main European indices recorded negative movements: the CAC 40 Index fell by -0.50%, the FTSE MIB by -0.20%, the FTSE 100 by -0.42%, the DAX by -0.32%, the IBEX 35 by -0.96%, and the STOXX Europe 600 by -0.41%.

Overall, European markets showed a general decline, with losses ranging between -0.20% and -0.96%.

Regarding oil, in this morning’s session crude prices jumped by 8%, with Brent Crude Oil approaching 100 dollars per barrel.Oil prices are under close watch after the International Energy Agency on Wednesday decided to release 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves to address supply disruptions caused by the war with Iran.

This measure represents the largest release of oil stocks in the agency’s history and aims to stabilize global energy markets amid severe geopolitical tensions and difficulties in oil flows from the Persian Gulf.

However, the real winners in these wartime contexts are often weapons producers. Shares of Leonardo S.p.A. rose by around 7%.

The Italian giant has announced it expects revenues to grow to around 21 billion, after reporting revenues above expectations of 19.5 billion euros (22.5 billion dollars) and an annual net profit of 1 billion euros.

Benedetta Zimone