(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari is expected to rise ahead of Wednesday's start of trading, with traders appearing increasingly convinced that the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank will cut rates next year.

The FTSE Mib is given up 70.0 points or 0.2 percent after closing up 0.6 percent at 30,082.88 on Tuesday's session.

London's FTSE 100 is expected to be up 25.5 points or 0.3 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is expected up 14.0 points or 0.2 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is indicated up 22.3 points or 0.1 percent.

Last night in Milan, the Mid-Cap closed up 0.6 percent to 42,062.03, the Small-Cap was up 0.7 percent to 26,292.35 while the Italy Growth gained 0.2 percent to 8,002.99.

On the main list of Piazza Affari at Tuesday's close, Pirelli & C traded well, up 4.9% to EUR4.75, showing good health since the bell rang. Of note, UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' and raised its target price to EUR5.70 from EUR5.00.

Iveco closed bullish by 3.0%, with the company continuing its buyback plan with regularity. Most recently, it reported Monday that it bought back 186,900 of its own ordinary shares between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, for a total value of EUR1.4 million.

Good session also for Saipem, up 1.4 percent after giving up 2.2 percent Monday evening. On Friday Capital Fund Management cut its short on the stock to 0.93% from the previous 1.09%, while Voleon Capital Management reduced it to 0.49% from the previous 0.62%.

Buying also prevailed for parent Eni--up 0.9%--which announced Monday that it had signed a new EUR3 billion five-year sustainability-linked revolving credit facility linked to the achievement of two targets in its Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework updated in April. The new facility will further enhance the company's financial flexibility, complementing the similar EUR6 billion sustainability-linked credit facility signed in 2022.

On the bearish side, Leonardo gave up 1.6 percent, priced at EUR13.90 per share. The stock is up nearly 73% in 2023.

Nexi, on the other hand, closed down 1.3 percent, breaking a four-session bullish trend.

On the Mid-Cap, Maire Tecnimont closed up 6.3 percent, after a 1.5 percent decline on the eve, setting the price at EUR4.59.

Piaggio - down 0.6 percent to EUR2.80 - reported Monday that the Vespa brand was valued at EUR1.08 billion, an increase of 19 percent over the brand's value obtained in the previous valuation of EUR906 million in 2021. This, the company says, is the result of the study commissioned by the Piaggio Group from global brand consultancy Interbrand on Vespa.

On the Small-Cap, Unieuro rose more than 11 percent. The company announced Monday that it had closed the acquisition of Covercare Spa, a leading player in Italy in the cell phone repair services market as well as in the installation of air conditioners and boilers.

Following the determination of the Provisional Net Financial Position, the price is EUR72.5 million, including cash of EUR12.5 million, which will be subject to adjustment according to actual cash. In addition, an amount of up to EUR10 million is expected to be paid as an earn-out, by June 30, 2026, subject to the achievement of a specific profitability target in terms of Ebitda in fiscal year 2025-26.

Good buys also on algoWatt, which closed up 5.9 percent. The company on Tuesday reported that it has obtained a loan of about EUR114,000 - total project expenditure EUR230,000 - for Digital Energy Service Provider activities on the project "INNOVACER - Process and organizational innovation to support the life cycle of Energy Communities."

Itway rose 1.6 percent after announcing Tuesday that subsidiary 4Science Spa has signed a binding agreement to acquire a 60 percent stake in Seacom, an ICT player with more than 20 years of experience in open source innovation with significant expertise in Big Data architecture. Concurrently with the execution of the transaction, a paid capital increase in the total amount of EUR450,000 is expected to be subscribed.

Among SMEs, GEL gained 4.3 percent, reversing course after two bearish sessions.

Saccheria F.lli Franceschetti--up more than 15 percent--reported Tuesday that the board has decided to call a shareholders' meeting to which it will submit the distribution of a dividend of EUR0.043 per share. If approved, the payment will take place on January 17, two days after the ex date and one day after the record date. The dividend yield is 4.1 percent from Monday's last closing share price.

In addition, the board will ask shareholders for approval to initiate a buyback program of up to 177,010 shares, for which it may invest no more than EUR400,000.

Ulysses Biomed rose 15 percent to EUR1.95 after announcing on Monday that it had signed a binding framework agreement regarding the acquisition of 100 percent of Hyris Limited for EUR26.2 million in UBM ordinary shares, derived from a special capital increase. Hyris is an English-registered hi-tech company that heads the eponymous group operating in the biotech and cloud computing sectors.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Wednesday up 2.0 percent to 33,445.90, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.1 percent to 2,968.93, and the Hang Seng was up 0.7 percent to 16,440.15.

In New York at Tuesday's close, the Dow Jones fell 0.2 percent to 36,124.56, the S&P lost 0.1 percent to 4,567.18 while the Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent to 14,229.91.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0787 against USD1.0788 recorded at Tuesday's European stock close while the pound is worth USD1.2600 from USD1.2595 last night.

Brent crude is worth USD77.35 per barrel versus USD78.24 per barrel at Tuesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,026.47 an ounce from USD2,013.59 an ounce last night.

Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar includes construction PMIs. In fact, the one from Germany, Italy, France and the Eurozone will arrive at 0930 CET, followed at 1030 CET by the one from the United Kingdom. At 1100 CET, for the Eurozone, the retail sales figure will also be released.

At 1200 CET, in the UK, a speech by Bak of England Governor Bailey is scheduled.

From the US, at 1300 CET, room for the mortgage report, followed at 1430 CET by ADP data and the trade balance. At 1630 CET, there will be the release of crude oil stocks, EIA report and and Cushing's inventory.

At 1630 CET, from Canada, eyes on the Bank of Canada's announcement on the main interest rate.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, no particular announcements are expected.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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