Milan's FTSE MIB ended a turbulent week higher despite a sharp fall on Friday, closing at 50,052.96 points after dropping 0.90 percent from Thursday's close of 50,505. The index lost about 452 points on the day but still gained 1.12 percent across the week, holding above the psychologically important 50,000 level.

The Friday session was far worse in the middle of the day than at the close. The index opened 1.58 percent lower at 49,710 and was still down 1.54 percent at 49,728 in mid-afternoon trading in Milan. A rebound on Wall Street in the final two hours of trading lifted it back above 50,000, after it had fallen as low as 49,651.14 during the session.

The selling began in the United States. Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate in the 3 November midterm elections, prompting fears of tighter regulation of artificial intelligence and a slowdown in data-centre building. On Thursday the Nasdaq dropped 5.5 percent, the S and P 500 lost 4.4 percent and the Dow fell about 1,833 points, the steepest declines since April 2025. Asia followed on Friday, with Tokyo down 6 percent and into a bear market, while Hong Kong lost 1.27 percent and Shanghai fell 1.10 percent. India's Sensex bucked the trend, jumping 2.17 percent.

Milan has relatively few technology stocks, but it is heavily weighted towards banks and insurers, which are sensitive to global risk appetite and to bond spreads. Payments group Nexi was the weakest blue chip on Friday, falling 3.64 percent, followed by Banco BPM, down 3.17 percent, and BPER Banca, down 2.70 percent. Defence group Leonardo lost 2.60 percent and insurer Unipol fell 2.24 percent, while Generali was also weak. Twelve constituents rose and 29 fell.

There were gainers even on a down day. Steel pipe maker Tenaris led the index, rising 3.26 percent to 26.64 euros on volumes about 57 percent above its 20-day average, and diagnostics group DiaSorin was also among the best performers. The technology names that had crashed on Thursday rebounded, with STMicroelectronics and Technoprobe rising about 2.5 percent each in the early afternoon after both had plunged about 9.3 percent the day before. Outside the main index, tyre maker Pirelli gained after confirming its 2026 guidance, with revenue expected at the top end of its range.

The week as a whole swung sharply. The index closed at 49,947.94 on Monday, up 0.90 percent, and was almost flat at 49,941.83 on Tuesday. It then surged 2.18 percent to 51,031.02 on Wednesday as banks rallied after the US election result, with Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit up more than 5 percent each, before falling 1.03 percent to 50,505.87 on Thursday. Despite Friday's decline, the index is up 1.53 percent over the past month and 11.37 percent so far in 2026, and its 52-week high of 54,041.80 remains about 7 percent away.

The bond market told a similar story of stress easing into the close. The spread between Italian 10-year BTPs and German Bunds widened towards 110 to 112 basis points in the morning before steadying near 108, while the Italian 10-year yield eased to about 4.33 percent. Eurozone bond yields were set for a weekly fall as investors scaled back bets on further European Central Bank rate rises. Italian banks are caught between two forces: higher rates support lending margins, while global market stress could raise credit costs and hit fee income from asset management.

Elsewhere in Europe on Friday, France's CAC 40 fell 0.81 percent to 8,139.00, Germany's DAX 40 dropped 1.92 percent to 25,820.36 a day after a record high, and London's FTSE 100 lost 1.01 percent to 10,673.94. Milan and Paris were the most resilient of the major markets. In the United States, October payrolls rose 165,000, far above forecasts, and unemployment fell to 4.1 percent, reviving expectations of a December Federal Reserve rate rise.

For next week, analysts flagged 49,400 as key support, with only a break below 48,900 likely to signal a trend reversal, while a recovery above 50,500 to 51,000 would restore the bullish structure built earlier in the week. Investors will watch the BTP-Bund spread, the remaining Italian bank and insurer results, European Central Bank commentary on rates and US inflation data. Because the FTSE MIB is so heavily weighted towards financials, any sign that yields and spreads are stabilising would likely be the fastest route back towards 51,000.