Italy's equity market closed higher on Friday as sector strength in Travel & Leisure, Chemicals and Financials helped push the benchmark up. At the Milan close the Investing.com Italy 40 rose 0.54%.
The session's top mover was Nexi SpA (BIT:NEXII), which climbed 6.31% or 0.23 points to finish at 3.94. Stellantis NV (BIT:STLAM) also posted notable gains, adding 3.39% or 0.16 points to close at 4.83. Buzzi Unicem (BIT:BZU) rounded out the biggest advancers, increasing 2.51% or 1.09 points to end the day at 44.47.
On the downside, Avio SpA (BIT:AVI) recorded the largest decline among the index constituents, slipping 1.82% or 0.57 points to close at 30.75. Eni SpA (BIT:ENI) fell 1.19% or 0.25 points to 20.75, while Prysmian SpA (BIT:PRY) dropped 1.10% or 1.50 points to finish at 135.05.
Market breadth on the Milan Stock Exchange was modestly positive, with 365 stocks advancing, 319 declining and 49 finishing unchanged.
Commodities moved lower during the session. U.S. crude for August delivery fell 1.17% or 0.84 to $71.24 a barrel. Brent for September delivery declined 0.80% or 0.61 to $75.69 a barrel. In metals trading, the August Gold Futures contract slipped 0.48% or 20.00 to trade at $4,120.80 a troy ounce.
Major currency pairs were largely stable at the close. EUR/USD was essentially unchanged, moving 0.07% to 1.14, while EUR/GBP was flat, shifting 0.04% to 0.85. The U.S. Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% and stood at 100.56 by the market close.
Friday's outcome left Italy's main index with a modest gain for the session, supported by select financials and consumer-facing names, while energy and industrial stocks pressured parts of the market amid lower commodity prices.