(Alliance News) - On Wednesday, major European stock markets start trading in positive territory--except for the Frankfurt stock exchange, which gives no momentum and holds on the parity line--on a day when markets are expected to digest the indications contained in the U.S. Fed minutes released Tuesday evening.

"The minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting showed that Fed members agreed to "proceed cautiously" with their future rate decisions. Cautiously does not mean that the Fed will be done tightening, it means that it will "proceed cautiously" in light of economic data and market conditions in deciding whether to raise, pause or cut interest rates. Note that "most" members "continue to see upside risks to inflation,"" commented Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is in the green 0.3 percent to 29,241.66, the Mid-Cap is up 0.6 percent to 41,786.01, the Small-Cap is in the green 0.2 percent to 25,848.85, as is Italy Growth at 7,788.15.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the green by 0.4 percent, London's FTSE 100 gains 0.2 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is on the parity line.

The main list in Piazza Affari is dragged into the opening by the banking sector, which in turn is driven by Moody's agency's improved ratings on their credit.

Banco BPM takes the top spot on the list, letting it know that it has had its baseline credit assessment upgraded to 'baa3' from 'ba2'. Improving the rating by two notches, Moody's raised the long-term rating on senior unsecured debt to 'Baa2' from 'Ba1,' again improving it by two levels, and those on long-term deposits to 'Baa1' from 'Baa2.' The outlook is Stable.

Also on the podium is BPER Banca, which saw its ratings confirmed and outlook revised to positive from negative. In addition, the bank concluded the placement of EUR750 million guaranteed issue with a maturity of 5 years, fixed-rate and aimed at institutional investors.

The issue collected orders of more than double the amount issued from about 70 investors.

Also doing well is Monte dei Paschi di Siena -- in the green by 0.9 percent -- which reported that Moody's has upgraded its baseline credit assessment to 'ba3' from 'b1'. It also upgraded the long term deposit rating to 'Ba1' from 'Ba2' and the long term senior unsecured debt rating to 'Ba3' from 'B1'. The decision comes just days after Italy's outlook was revised to 'Stable'.

Among the bearish is Enel, which does worse than all after the release of details of its new business plan to 2026. The company expects ordinary net income to grow to between EUR7.1 billion and EUR7.3 billion.

Enel said it expects a minimum fixed dividend per share of EUR0.43, with a potential increase to a 70 percent payout on ordinary net income if cash flow neutrality is achieved. The group's ordinary Ebitda is expected to grow and increase to between EUR23.6 billion and EUR24.3 billion.

Between 2024 and 2026, the Enel group has planned total gross investments of about EUR35.8 billion.

Leonardo -- up 0.7 percent -- announced the completion of a public offering in the U.S. on Nov. 21 by its subsidiary Leonardo US Holding LLC of a minority stake -- equal to 20.7 million ordinary shares -- in Leonardo DRS Inc. at an offering price of USD17.75 per share.

On the cadet segment, fashion stocks are recovering ground, with Tod's gaining 0.8 percent after Barclays cut its target price to EUR33.00 from EUR34.00 with title'equal weight'. The same analysts cut Salvatore Ferragamo's tp to EUR12.00 from EUR13.00 with title'underweight'.

In contrast, Brunello Cucinelli rises 1.6 percent after UBS raised its target price to EUR98.00 from EUR87.00.

Acea gains 0.8 percent after letting it know on Wednesday that Moody's agency improved the outlook to stable from negative and confirmed the long term issuer rating and senior unsecured rating at Baa2, the baseline credit assessment at baa2 level, as well as the PBaa2 level assigned to the EMTN program.

According to Moody's, the improvement in Acea's outlook follows the same dynamic seen by Italian sovereign debt.

On Small-Cap, d'Amico International Shipping - in the red by 0.4 percent - reported that it has received approval to trade its shares on the OTCQX Best Market in the U.S. starting Nov. 20.

PLC - down 3.4 percent - reported that PLC System, a group company, has signed a contract with RWE Renewables Italia regarding the balance of plant for a wind farm with a capacity of 54 MWp located in the province of Foggia.

RWE is a utility active in the energy sector with a specific focus on the renewable energy segment in Europe and worldwide.

The contract has a total consideration of more than EUR20 million, of which PLC System is responsible for about 14 percent.

Among SMEs, Solutions Capital Management SIM rises 1.7 percent after reporting Tuesday that commission income for the first nine months rose 41 percent to EUR5.5 million from EUR3.9 million in the same period last year.

Commission expense was EUR2.7 million compared to EUR1.6 million as of September 30, 2022. Net interest and other banking income was EUR2.8 million, up 26 percent from EUR2.2 million in the same period last year. The net loss of EUR360,000 marks a marked improvement from the loss of EUR890,000 a year earlier.

IMD International Medical Devices - up 5.5 percent - reported Monday evening that, taking into account the information available to date, the group's growth trends remain unchanged at the moment. Turnover and Ebitda targets of around EUR50 million and EUR8 million respectively are planned for 2024. In addition, the CEO disclosed the unaudited management figure of net financial debt, which as of September 30, 2023 shows a net cash position of about EUR5.1 million.

In Asia, the Nikkei rose 0.3 percent to 33,451.83 on Wednesday, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.8 percent to 3,043.61, and the Hang Seng is on parity at 17,734.60.

In New York, the Dow closed down 0.2 percent last night at 35,088.29, the Nasdaq fell 0.6 percent to 14,199.98 and the S&P 500 gave up 0.2 percent to 4,538.19.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0889 against USD1.0938 recorded at Tuesday's European stock close while the pound was worth USD1.2519 from USD1.2537 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD82.41 per barrel from USD81.74 per barrel at Tuesday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,002.10 an ounce from USD2,003.61 an ounce Tuesday evening.

Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar includes the European Central Bank report on Eurozone financial stability, at 1000 CET, followed by the UK Autumn Statement, at 1100 CET, and US mortgage data, at 1300 CET.

German import prices will be released at 1330 CET, one hour before US jobless claims and goods orders. At 1600 CET, eyes on euro area consumer confidence, half an hour before U.S. crude oil stocks data. At 1900 CET, focus on Baker Hughes data on U.S. drilling rigs.

Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, the accounts of MFE-MediaForEurope are scheduled.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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