AMSTERDAM (ANP) – Aviation shares were clear winners on European stock exchanges on Thursday due to falling oil prices. If this decline continues, companies will eventually be able to make their fuel costs cheaper. For example, investors put British Airways parent company IAG, Lufthansa and Ryanair up almost 3 percent. Air France-KLM and easyJet each gained almost 4 percent in market value.
Oil prices fell further on Thursday after a sharp decline on Wednesday. The price of a barrel of American oil fell 1.9 percent to $ 82.61 and Brent oil became 1.8 percent cheaper at $ 84.25 per barrel. On Wednesday, prices fell by about 5 percent on signals that oil demand is weakening due to rising interest rates and concerns about an economic recession. That was the strongest price drop in one day in more than a year.
The overall sentiment on European stock markets was mixed. The results on the race boards were limited. The AEX index on the Amsterdam stock exchange ended with a plus of 0.1 percent at 721.75 points. The MidKap fell 0.2 percent to 806.41 points. The main indicators in Paris and London improved by up to 0.6 percent. The DAX in Frankfurt lost 0.2 percent after a stronger than expected decline in German exports in August.
Tax Italian excess profits
In Italy, investors reacted to news that the Italian parliament has approved a weakening of the previously announced tax on bank “excess profits”. The banks UniCredit, Intesa, Banco BPM and BPER gained more than 1 percent. Mediobanca and Monte dei Paschi di Siena exited trading with losses of up to more than 2 percent.
The change means most banks in the country likely won’t have to pay the extra levy if they add money to their reserves instead. According to Italian professor Rossella Locatelli from the University of Insubria, near Milan, this also means that most banks probably do not have to adjust their dividend policy.
Concerns at ECB
The latter would be good news for investors. The plans for the bank tax were controversial. The European Central Bank (ECB) also previously expressed its concerns because the intention of the Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni appeared to entail major risks for financial stability.
The euro was trading at $1.0535 late Thursday afternoon.