Milan shares slide 2.5% below 50,000 points as European bond yields climb
The FTSE Mib dropped 2.51% on 7 October 2026, marking Europe's steepest equity retreat as banking losses and rising sovereign debt yields weighed on Piazza Affari.
Milan's FTSE Mib index closed down 2.51% on 7 October 2026, falling below the 50,000-point mark to record the steepest drop among European stock exchanges. The retreat was led by banks and industrial technology shares, with UniCredit declining 4.18%, Intesa Sanpaolo losing 4%, Prysmian falling 4.68%, and STM dropping 4.07%. Losses extended across Europe as Madrid dropped 1.73%, Frankfurt slipped 1.22%, and Paris retreated 1.11%. In contrast, Milan recorded gains for Inwit (+1.87%), Stellantis (+1.36%), and energy producers Eni (+0.41%) and Saipem (+0.11%), with automotive stocks supported by reported European Union discussions regarding possible import restrictions on Chinese hybrid vehicles.
The equity downturn coincided with rising yields on European government debt, influenced in part by higher crude prices after Brent climbed 1.3% to $101.90 per barrel following Iranian attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Italy's 10-year BTP yield rose 9.7 basis points to end at 4.62%, pushing the BTP-Bund spread to 115.2 basis points while the German 10-year Bund yield fell slightly to 3.47%. Sovereign bond yields climbed more steeply in France, where the 10-year OAT yield rose 11.9 basis points to 4.86% and its spread over the German benchmark reached 139.3 basis points amid investor focus on public debt and efforts to narrow the national budget deficit to 5% of GDP.
