(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari is expected to open Thursday's session down, on another day lacking in macro appointments and with the calendar of corporate results getting thinner and thinner.

On the political front, the presidents of the US and China, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, met and agreed to restore military ties after a lengthy summit.

They also agreed that China would crack down on the production of ingredients for the drug fentanyl, responsible for a deadly epidemic of opioid abuse in the US.

But Xi and Biden remained distant on the broader sticking point of Taiwan, with the Chinese president telling his U.S. counterpart to stop arming the island and saying reunification was "unstoppable." Beijing claims sovereignty over the self-governing democracy and does not rule out taking it over by force.

The FTSE Mib is expected to fall 22.5 points or 0.1 percent after closing up 0.4 percent at 29,466.93 Wednesday evening.

London's FTSE 100 is given up 0.7 points or less than 0.1 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is expected down 7.1 points or 0.1 percent while Frankfurt's DAX 40 is shown slightly up 4.3 points.

In Milan last night, the Mid-Cap closed 0.2 percent in the red at 41,833.67, the Small-Cap finished up 1.1 percent at 25,946.72, and Italy Growth was up 0.5 percent at 7,658.98.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, STMicroelectronics closed up 5.4 percent, followed by Iveco and Saipem, up 2.8 percent and 2.5 percent.

ERG gained 0.6 percent. The company reported Tuesday that it closed the first nine months of the year with a group profit of EUR112 million, down from EUR459 million in the same period of 2022. However, the company's guidance is positive, while adjusted net debt for "continuing operations" was EUR1.41 billion, down from EUR1.52 billion since June 30.

Enel and Eni left 0.4 percent on the parterre. On Wednesday, Italy's competition watchdog fined six energy suppliers more than EUR15 million for raising consumer prices despite a law seeking to stabilize electricity and gas bills.

The largest fines were imposed precisely on Enel - EUR10 million - and Eni - EUR5 million - "which unilaterally changed prices for more than four million consumers on the basis of contractual clauses that allow the companies to decide at their own discretion whether and when to change the tariff."

On the Mid-Cap, Piaggio & C. - in the red by 1.0 percent - announced Wednesday that it had signed a EUR200 million revolving credit facility with a pool of banks with a four-year term, with an option to extend for an additional year at the company's discretion.

The board of directors of Rai Way -- up 2.9 percent -- reviewed and approved the interim report as of September 30, which closed with a net profit of EUR69.8 million, up 24 percent from the nine-month figure for 2022, when it was EUR56.3 million.

Fincantieri closed in the red by 0.9 percent. The company reported Wednesday that it closed the first nine months with revenues up to EUR5.38 billion from EUR5.32 billion in the same period a year earlier. For the full year, Fincantieri expects revenues in line with 2022, a 5% margin and NFP almost unchanged from last year-end.

Tamburi Investment Partners -- down 0.8 percent -- on Tuesday reported that it ended the nine months with a pro forma consolidated profit of EUR73.6 million from EUR119.4 million and shareholders' equity reaching EUR1.29 billion, after dividend payments of EUR21.7 million and share buybacks of EUR15.6 million. As of September 30, total revenues were EUR1.17 million from EUR1.36 million pro forma for the same period last year.

On the Small-Cap, algoWatt and Class Editori closed on top with gains of 15 percent each.

Class Editori's board of directors on Tuesday evening approved additional consolidated periodic information as of Sept. 30, a period that ended with a positive consolidated group net income of EUR360,000, an improvement from a loss of EUR4.10 million as of Sept. 30, 2022. Total revenues for the first nine months of 2023 were EUR60.5 million, up EUR6.3 million from the figure as of September 30, 2022.

Caleffi - up 1.6 percent - reported Wednesday that consolidated revenues in the first nine months were around EUR40.7 million, up 2.0 percent from September 30, 2022 , when they were EUR39.9 million.

Digital Bros -- in the red by 1.7 percent -- announced on Tuesday a reorganization plan, which will affect development studios more but also, to a lesser extent, publishing activities.

The reorganization plan calls for a reduction of about 30 percent in the global workforce, concentrated more in development studios.

Eurotech -- up 5.8 percent -- reported Tuesday that it closed the first nine months of the year with a loss of EUR1.2 million, an improvement from a loss of EUR3.7 million in the same period last year. As of Sept. 30, revenues stood at EUR70.0 million from EUR59.8 million in 2022.

Among SMEs, Portobello closed up 60 percent to EUR5.12.

FOS - up 0.6 percent - announced on Wednesday its EUR1.8 million investment in the research and development project "TITCO - Technologies for the Detection, Traceability and Measurability of Contaminants in Olive Oils," with the aim of applying innovative product and process technology solutions to the olive oil supply chain.

The project is led by the FOS group through the company T&G, which specializes in Information and Communication Technology.

Energy closed by 3.5 percent. The company received from Invitalia the notice of grant of subsidies for the application for the Development Contract of the strategic production chain "Renewables and Batteries" provided by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The award provides for 16 percent co-funding - amounting to about EUR7.2 million, non-repayable, disbursed in SAL starting in 2024 and ending in 2026 - out of a total amount of about EUR43 million for the purpose of building the giga-factory for the production of batteries for storage systems for renewables at Energy's headquarters in Veneto.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Thursday down 0.3 percent to 33,424.41, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.7 percent to 3,050.93 and the Hang Seng gave up 1.3 percent to 17,836.89.

In New York on Wednesday evening, the Dow closed up 0.5 percent to 34,991.21, the Nasdaq gained 0.1 percent to 14,103.84 while the S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 4,502.88.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0837 against USD1.0853 recorded at Wednesday's European stock close while the pound was worth USD1.2387 from USD1.2435 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD80.89 per barrel from USD81.62 per barrel at Tuesday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,967.04 an ounce from USD1,960.48 an ounce last night.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar includes, at 1000 CET, the publication of the Italian trade balance while, at 1230 CET, a speech by Christine Lagarde is scheduled.

In the afternoon, from the US, at 1430 CET, initial claims for unemployment benefits are expected and, at 1515 CET, it will be the turn of US industrial production.

Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, the results of Assicurazioni Generali, H-Farm and MeglioQuesto are expected.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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