(Alliance News) - On Friday, major financial markets in Europe - according to futures on the IG platform - marked a bullish path before the bell rang, on the heels of a positive trading session on Wall Street overnight, while the focus remains firm on the central banks - Fed and ECB - meeting next week.

In New York City-as mentioned-the dominant color was green, with buying buoyed by the weaker-than-expected U.S. unemployment claims data, which weakened pressure toward the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next week.

The FTSE Mib, therefore, after closing up 0.8 percent at 27,275.04 last night, marks a gain of 10.00 points.

Last night, the Mid-Cap rose 0.4 percent to 42,939.46 as did the Small-Cap to 27,331.17, while Italy Growth picked up 0.1 percent to 9,173.21.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 advanced 11.00 points, Paris' CAC 40 rose 2.50 points, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 advanced 7.00 points.

IIaterday evening, the Mib -- overwhelmingly bullish -- saw Mediobanca rise to the top with 2.3 percent, followed by FinecoBank and Leonardo, which gained 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

The oil sector--while Brent fell to USD76 despite the weekend announcements of production cuts decided by Saudi Arabia--saw Eni up 0.3%, Tenaris up 0.5%, Saipem in the red 0.3% and, on the Mid, Saras down 0.5%.

Banca Mediolanum finished 0.2% in the red after reporting trading results for May on Thursday, reporting total net inflows of EUR403 million, for a total of EUR4.24 billion since the beginning of the year, which compares with EUR3.80 billion for the same period in 2022.

Banco BPM -- up 0.9 percent -- announced Wednesday that it has completed a new Green Senior Non Preferred issue, with a maturity of five years and the possibility of early redemption in June 2027, in the amount of EUR750 million.

Orders reached EUR1.3 billion. The bond was issued at a price of 99.955 percent and pays a fixed coupon of 6 percent

Intesa Sanpaolo advanced 0.9% after presenting Wednesday in Naples new measures dedicated to the development of the tourism industry, vital for the Italian and southern economy, to support the growth of companies in the sector and seize the opportunities provided by PNRR and ministerial initiatives.

On the Mid-Cap, Autogrill - in the red by 0.2 percent - and the Hera group - which on the Mib ends in the green by 0.4 percent - announced Wednesday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on initiatives in the areas of circular economy, sustainable mobility and environmental communication, consistent with the goals for sustainable development defined by the UN 2030 Agenda.

UnipolSai advanced 0.5 percent. The company raised the curtain on BeRebel, the "pay-per-you" insurtech, a first in Italy and Europe with a mileage-based, monthly, fully digital auto policy.

BeRebel has set a minimum monthly cost, of about EUR10, in which 200 km are included. At the end of the month, any extra km driven will be equalized at the cost per km indicated in the policy, which is about 2 cents per km. Any unused km can be carried over to the following month.

Anima Group's net inflows of assets under management-which closed up 1.4 percent-were positive EUR63 million in May 2023. At the end of May, total assets under management by the Anima Group stood at more than EUR183 billion.

At the top were DoValue - up 3.9 percent - and Juventus FC, which finished in the green by 3.3 percent.

On the Small-Cap, Mondo TV closed up 1.1 percent after announcing Thursday that it had signed a sales agreement with the Korean JEI Broadcasting corporation for the sale of the Weather Heroes series, seasons 1 and 2.

Bioera took the top spot with an 11 percent rise followed by Conafi Prestitò, which finished up 9.0 percent.

Tinexta reported that the Chief Financial Officer, Oddone Pozzi, has also been appointed as the company's senior financial reporting officer.

Among SMEs, CY4Gate, which closed in the green by 1.8 percent, announced Thursday that it had signed an agreement with DeepCyber of the Maggioli Group under which DeepCyber will provide support in terms of technology and know-how in cyber threat intelligence that CY4Gate will integrate with a view to further strengthening its cyber security business line.

Friulchem - in the red by 1.0 percent - announced Thursday that it has approved the signing of a framework contract with Evultis SA concerning the supply to Friulchem by Evultis - the company's historical raw material supplier - of certain active ingredients and intermediates, for a maximum total amount on an annual basis of EUR3.5 million and for a maximum number of orders, over 12 months, of 50.

Datrix - in the green by 2.6 percent - announced on Thursday that ByTek, the group's martech company, has extended its collaboration with Crédit Agricole Italia, gaining entrustment of the bank's digital activities until 2024.

The martech company is managing, in particular, optimizations on properties related to the banking player's Accounts and Mortgages portals, with Data Strategy activities and strategy enhancement on search and conversions.

In New York, the Dow closed up 0.5 percent, the Nasdaq rose 1.0 percent, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.6 percent.

In Asia, the Hang Seng is picking up 0.6 percent, the Shanghai Composite 0.3 percent, while the Nikkei closed up 2.0 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0776 versus USD1.0774 on Thursday in closing European equities. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2556 from USD1.2543 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD75.37 per barrel versus USD76.31 per barrel Thursday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,964.82 an ounce from USD1,965.67 an ounce last night.

On Friday's economic calendar, at 1000 CEST, Italy is expected to receive the industrial production data followed at 1100 CEST by the auction of 12-month Treasury bills.

At 1430 CEST some macros are expected from Canada, including the change in the level of employment.

As for Piazza Affari, results from Fenix Entertainment and Gequity are expected.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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