(Alliance News) - European stock markets start the day slightly higher on Tuesday, awaiting the final PMI readings, Eurozone producer prices and the release of U.S. job openings later in the day.

Thus, the FTSE Mib opens up 0.2 percent at 29,957.61, the Mid-Cap is in fractional green at 41,834.96 as is the Small-Cap at 26,126.83 while Italy Growth advances 0.2 percent to 8,001.75.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in fractional green, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is just below par while London's FTSE100 gives up 0.3 percent.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, Pirelli & C leads, up 5.4 percent. Of note, UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' and raised its target price to EUR5.70 from EUR5.00.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena follows and rises 0.1%.

Eni - in the green by 0.8 percent - also made a good start, reporting 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 strengthen the company's financial flexibility, complementing the similar EUR6 billion sustainability-linked credit facility signed in 2022.

Saipem, meanwhile, is up 0.7 percent after giving up 2.2 percent Monday evening. On Friday Capital Fund Management cut its short on the stock to 0.93 percent from the previous 1.09 percent, while Voleon Capital Management reduced it to 0.49 percent from the previous 0.62 percent.

Tenaris closed the oil sector up 0.6 percent.

Snam - in the green with 0.1 percent - reported Monday that, following a signing last July, Snam and BW LNG have finalized the Italian group's acquisition of 100 percent of the share capital of FSRU I Ltd, a company that owns the floating storage and regasification unit "BW Singapore," for a total consideration of about EUR367 million.

On the Mid-Cap, Brembo advances 0.1 percent after announcing on Monday that it will proceed with a capital reduction as no opposition has been received from any claimant.

Capital will fall to EUR3.3 million from EUR34.7 million. The proceedings are part of the company's cross-border transformation.

Piaggio--down 0.4 percent after closing up 4.2 percent--reported Monday that the Vespa brand has been 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.

MFE's A and B shares move in the bearish area and both give up 0.9 percent.

On the Small-Cap, Itway advances 7.4 percent after announcing Tuesday that subsidiary 4Science Spa has signed a binding agreement to acquire 60 percent of the shares of Seacom Srl, 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.

Mondo TV--up 1.1 percent--reported that it has strengthened its partnership with Canal+ Thematiques, operator of pay-TV channels in France and part of the Vivendi group, by reaching a preliminary agreement to license the Monster Loving Maniac series.

Among SMEs, Ulysses Biomed rises 11 percent to EUR1.88 after announcing Monday that it has signed a binding framework agreement related to the acquisition of 100 percent of Hyris Limited for EUR26.2 million in UBM ordinary shares, derived from a special capital increase.

Hyris is a hi-tech company under English law that heads the eponymous group operating in the biotech and cloud computing sectors.

eVISO - up 1.2 percent - reports Tuesday that it has signed a contract with the Imperia Energia Consortium, established in July 2000 at the initiative of Confindustria Imperia and its major member companies, for the supply of energy and related services, for a plafond of 52 GWh, equivalent to an estimated turnover of about EUR12 million.

Circle is not yet trading. The company announced Monday that the "TRUST - TRUcking SmarTer" project has been approved by FILSE on behalf of Regione Liguria.

The 18-month project awards Circle a grant of about EUR130,000 and aspires to bridge the gap in sharing critical data and events relevant to logistics processes, enabling more precise planning of internal operations at maritime terminals

Casta Diva opens up 0.4 percent after closing up 5.1 percent. The company announced Monday that its board of directors approved a new Business Plan 2023-2026 compared to the one approved last April 3.

As of 2026, the company expects a value of production of EUR153 million, adjusted Ebitda of EUR17.7 million with a margin of 11.6%, Ebit of EUR13.6 million, and a negative Net Cash Position of EUR6.4 million.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 1.3 percent at 32,775.82, the Hang Seng finished down 2.1 percent at 16,305.50, and the Shanghai Composite closed 1.7 percent in the red at 2,972.30.

In New York, the Dow Jones closed down 0.1 percent to 36,204.44, the S&P contracted 0.5 percent to 4,569.78, and the Nasdaq fell 0.8 percent to 14,185.49.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0816 against USD1.0820 recorded in Monday's European stock close while the pound is worth USD1.2623 from USD1.2620 on Monday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD78.49 per barrel versus USD78.52 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,038.05 an ounce from USD2,025.16 an ounce on Monday evening.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar includes, at 1100 CET from the Eurozone, the producer price index.

From the US, at 1545 CET, focus on the release of the tertiary sector PMI while, at 1600 CET, the JOLTs report for October will be released. Finally, at 2230 CET, the weekly oil stocks data will arrive.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, no special events are scheduled.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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