(Alliance News) - European stock markets Wednesday continued on the bearish path taken just after the bell rang, after the Fitch rating agency cut the U.S. credit rating to 'AA+' from 'AAA,' a move that infuriated the White House and surprised trading desks despite the resolution of the debt ceiling crisis a few weeks ago.

The well-known U.S. rating agency has signaled concerns about the fiscal outlook over the next three years and repeated last-minute debt ceiling negotiations, as was precisely the case recently. On the monetary policy front, in the CME Group platform's FedWatch Tool, using futures also based on the actual federal funds rate, or EFFR, the rate confirmation at the Sept. 20 meeting has an 84 percent probability for the 525/550 bps range confirmation.

In contrast, the 25 bps rise in the 550/575 bps target is priced at 16%.

Thus, the FTSE Mib trades 1.3 percent red at 28,987.78.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 marks a decline of 0.8 percent, Paris' CAC 40 gives up 0.9 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is stepping back 1.2 percent.

Among the smaller listings, the Mid-Cap is giving up 0.8 percent to 42,202.04, the Small-Cap is in the red 0.6 percent to 26,840.97 while the Italy Growth is in the red 9,027.67.

On the main index in Piazza Affari, Iveco is among the few that are resisting the bearish current, moving ahead 4.8 percent, among the few bullish ones on the list. The comoany reported Wednesday that it closed the first half of the year with a net profit of EUR160 million compared with a net profit of EUR21 million in the same period last year. Pre-tax profit rose to EUR245 million from EUR72 million while operating profit increased to EUR245 million from EUR134 million.

The company raised its preliminary financial outlook for the full year, expecting consolidated adjusted Ebit to rise to between EUR750 million and EUR800 million from the previous financial outlook of EUR600-640 million.

Inwit is also marching well, advancing 0.5 percent, on the heels of eve's tentative green with 0.1 percent.

Red for several banking stocks, including BPER Banca, which retreats 2.8 percent bringing its price to EUR3.0030 per share and following up eve's red with 1.9 percent,

The board of directors of FinecoBank-also on the back foot with a 2.2 percent red-had announced Tuesday that it had approved results for the first half of the year in which it posted record profit and revenues. In detail, net income amounted to EUR308.9 million, up 39 percent from EUR222.5 million reported in the same period last year.

Nexi also dropped 2.2 percent, on the heels of the eve's red, despite ending the first half of the year with normalized group earnings of EUR295.0 million with normalized earnings per share of EUR0.22, up 8.0 percent year-on-year. Revenues stood at EUR1.57 billion, up 8.1 percent from the same period last year.

DiaSorin also fell behind, posting minus 2.2 percent on the heels of a 3.2 percent loss in the eve.

In the cadet segment, Zignago sees itself among the few bullish performers, advancing 1.6 percent green on the heels of eve's 0.6 percent gain.

The board of EuroGroup Laminations -- down 4.9 percent -- announced Wednesday that it had approved the half-year financial report as of June 30, 2023, which closed with a net profit of EUR18.8 million compared to EUR22.0 million in the same period of 2022.

At the tail end is Banca Popolare di Sondrio, which posted a minus 2.7 percent to EUR4.24 per share.

Datalogic, on the heels of eve's red, gives up 2.0% instead.

Brembo, on the other hand, gives up 0.9%, with new price at EUR13.10 after a 2.7% gain on the eve.

On the SmallCap, Il Sole 24 Ore advances well, marking a plus 4.2% with price at EUR0.55. The company reported Tuesday that it reported a net profit of EUR5.4 million in the first half of the year from a loss of EUR400,000 as of June 30, 2022.

High quarters also for Conafi, which advances 2.3 percent after two sessions in the negative.

At the back of the pack, Netweek marks a minus 5.1 percent to EUR0.3510 after a 5.4 percent profit on the eve.

Fidia, meanwhile, retreats 3.8% to EUR1.28 per share. The stock - which has been missing the ex-dividend since 2017 - hit a new 52-week low of EUR1.27.

Finally, among SMEs, head of the list for Askoll Eva, which moves ahead 5.0 percent after a 1.1 percent loss on the eve.

It does even better Industrie Chimiche Forestali, which scores a plus 5.9% taking the list head.

Alfonsino--still flat at EUR0.7780--reported Wednesday that it had reached a new milestone with the acquisition of 104 new restaurants on its platform during July. This achievement marked a significant 30 percent increase over the previous record, when 80 entries were recorded in October 2022.

Datrix, on the other hand, gives up 3.8 percent, in the binary for the sixth bearish session.

Ecosuntek instead retreats 3.7 percent, reversing course after four sessions among the bearish.

Franchi Umberto Marmi, on the other hand, gives up 3.2 percent to EUR7.94 per share, after a 1.2 percent loss on the eve of the session.

In New York overnight Europe, the Dow closed up 0.2 percent, the Nasdaq in the red 0.4 percent, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.3 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0979 versus USD1.0963 in Tuesday's European stock close while the pound was instead worth USD1.2777 from USD1.2760 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD85.29 per barrel versus USD84.92 per barrel at yesterday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,949.37 an ounce from USD1,980.25 an ounce last night.

On Wednesday's economic calendar, the US mortgage rate is due at 1300 CEST while at 1630 CEST it is the turn of crude oil stocks data.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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