Stock Markets February 23, 2026

Milan Stocks Close Higher as Utilities, Chemicals and Oil & Gas Lead Gains

Italy 40 rises 0.44% with Enel, Tenaris and Moncler among top performers; market breadth narrows amid mixed commodity moves

By Avery Klein
Milan Stocks Close Higher as Utilities, Chemicals and Oil & Gas Lead Gains

Italian equities finished the trading day higher on Monday, driven by strength in the Utilities, Chemicals and Oil & Gas sectors. The Investing.com Italy 40 index closed up 0.44% in Milan, with Enel outperforming the index. Market breadth showed more decliners than advancers, while key commodities and currency benchmarks moved modestly.

Key Points

  • Investing.com Italy 40 closed up 0.44% in Milan on Monday, led by gains in Utilities, Chemicals and Oil & Gas.
  • Enel (BIT:ENEI) was the top performer, rising 6.80% to 9.70; Tenaris (BIT:TENR) and Moncler (BIT:MONC) also advanced.
  • Market breadth showed more decliners than advancers (390 down, 308 up, 52 unchanged); commodities and FX were mixed, with gold notably higher.

Italian stocks ended Monday's session with positive returns, as the Utilities, Chemicals and Oil & Gas sectors provided upward momentum for the market. At the close in Milan, the Investing.com Italy 40 was up 0.44%.

Top gainers

  • Enel (BIT:ENEI) led the index, climbing 6.80% or 0.62 points to finish at 9.70.
  • Tenaris SA (BIT:TENR) added 2.08% or 0.46 points to end the day at 22.60.
  • Moncler SpA (BIT:MONC) rose 1.86% or 1.06 points to close at 58.06.

Lagging names

  • Lottomatica Group SpA (BIT:LTMC) was the weakest on the list, slipping 2.05% or 0.42 points to 20.08 at the close.
  • Telecom Italia (BIT:TLIT) declined 1.91% or 0.01 points to end at 0.65.
  • Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario SpA (BIT:MDBI) fell 1.82% or 0.35 points to 19.13.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing issues by 390 to 308, while 52 stocks finished unchanged. That distribution indicates narrower breadth despite the positive headline move in the Italy 40.

Commodities and currencies

In commodities trading, crude oil for April delivery eased 0.23% or 0.15 to $66.33 a barrel. Brent oil for May delivery slipped 0.22% or 0.16 to $71.14 a barrel. Precious metals saw a stronger move: the April Gold Futures contract rose 2.97% or 150.69 to trade at $5,231.59 a troy ounce.

Foreign-exchange pairs were essentially flat in the session. EUR/USD was unchanged 0.20% to 1.18, while EUR/GBP was unchanged 0.06% to 0.87. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.23% at 97.50.


This close reflects a market day where select sector leadership compensated for a larger number of decliners, and where oil and currency moves were modest while gold posted a notable gain.

Risks

  • Narrow market breadth despite a positive index close - more decliners (390) than advancers (308) could signal uneven participation across sectors, impacting overall market stability.
  • Weakness in specific large-cap names such as Lottomatica (BIT:LTMC), Telecom Italia (BIT:TLIT) and Mediobanca (BIT:MDBI) introduces downside risk for portfolios overweight those stocks or sectors.
  • Commodity and currency fluctuations - modest declines in oil and a sharp rise in gold suggest divergent pressures in commodity markets that may affect energy and materials-related equities.

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