
AI-generated summary
Saudi Arabia has restarted operations on its East-West pipeline, which connects domestic oil fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, allowing potential direct exports to international markets.
Oil closed lower in New York in the wake of Saudi Arabia restarting operations on its East-West gas pipeline with the possibility of resuming exports from the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea: the WTI, the American benchmark, lost 0.85%, to 94.97 dollars a barrel, while Brent, the international benchmark, fell by 1.28%, to 99.06.

The CISL confederal secretary Mattia Pirulli states that the discussion between business associations and unions for a new interconfederal agreement will resume on 28 September, recognizing the complexity of the issues, in particular the wage issue, and the need to arrive at a common synthesis between the parties.

Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli family, announces a share buyback program of up to 500 million euros to be executed on the market by March 2027. The net asset value per share decreased by 3.9% in the first half of 2026, while the MSCI World index grew by 11.8%. John Elkann points out that Stellantis was the only one of the four largest companies to see a decline in share price, but highlights the encouraging early results of the FaSTLAne 2030 strategy.

The Confindustria research center warns of a slowdown ahead for the Italian economy in 2026, despite an upward revision of GDP growth to +0.8% thanks to the first two positive quarters and the driving force of the Pnrr. Economists report that the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz is keeping oil and gas prices high, fueling inflation and pushing central banks to raise rates, which will slow down consumption and investments in Italy too.

In Italy, 3.4 million people regularly work remotely and around 350 thousand professionals not tied to a company regularly travel to improve their quality of life, a number that has more than doubled in six years. 73% of freelancers have opened their VAT number to be able to work anywhere, and for 37% there is no figure that can make them give up this freedom. The main driver is the need to change the environment or regenerate (28%), followed by the passion for travel (25%). Four in ten cite freedom, flexibility and better work-life harmony as key benefits, while challenges include unreliable connections, lack of adequate space, fragile routines and increased travel costs. Despite the obstacles, 49% plan to move more in 2027, while 29% would like to do so but cannot for economic or family reasons. Professional freedom is not measured by the kilometers travelled, but by the possibility of choosing where to work.

Marcello Sala, president of Nexi, underlines that payment systems have become critical infrastructures essential for the economy and daily life, requiring security, resilience and collaboration between public and private to face evolving cyber threats and guarantee continuity of services, also in view of the digital euro.

The Italian ETF market doubles in five years, exceeding 39 billion euros. Despite the growth, oversupply creates decision paralysis: 51% of investors struggle to distinguish products, focusing on only 14% of the total offering.