Europeans in the green; Nexi tops on Mib.

(Alliance News) - On Friday morning, major European stock markets open higher as expected, thanks in part to strong results from Microsoft and Alphabet that strengthened the technology sector, while investors await the release of PCE data from the U.S. in the afternoon for clues on the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy decisions.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.5 percent to 34,096.25, the Mid-Cap advances 0.4 percent to 46,598.09, the Small-Cap rises 0.6 percent to 28,447.52, and Italy Growth is in the green 0.1 percent to 8,144.12.

London's FTSE 100 is in the green by 0.6 percent as is Frankfurt's DAX 40 while Paris' CAC 40 rises 0.4 percent.

On the Mib, Nexi opens up 2.0%, followed by Amplifon and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, up 1.4% and 1.3% respectively.

Tenaris rises 0.9 percent after reporting Thursday results for the first quarter of the year, which closed with a USD750 million profit down from USD1.13 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

Revenues rose to USD3.44 billion from USD4.14 billion in the same period.

Moncler - up 0.3 percent - on Wednesday reported results for the first quarter 2024, which ended with consolidated revenues of EUR818.0 million, up 16 percent from EUR726.4 million as of March 31, 2023.

BPER Banca - up 0.3 percent - announced Tuesday the market launch of the sustainability linked loan, the new financing product designed to offer tangible support to all businesses pursuing predetermined and measurable sustainability goals.

STMicroelectronics--in the green by 0.2 percent--reported Thursday that revenues and earnings fell double digits in the first quarter and that it expects revenues to decline further in the second quarter.

Revenues for the first three months fell to USD3.47 billion from EUR4.25 billion in the first quarter of 2023, an annual decline of 18%, and from USD4.28 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, a quarterly decline of 19%.

Hera closed down the list and gave up 1.6 percent. Among the bearish minority, Leonardo and A2A give up 0.2% while and Ferrari is down 0.1%.

On the cadet segment, Saras opens up 0.3 percent after announcing Friday that, in connection with the prospective acquisition by Vitol BV of a stake representing about 35 percent of the share capital of Saras, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers issued a decree regarding the exercise of special powers--golden power--"containing prescriptions that do not impede the completion of the transaction."

Therefore, the statement says, one of the related conditions precedent for the completion of the transaction has been fulfilled.

Shareholders of Credito Emiliano -- in the green by 0.5 percent -- appointed members of the new board of directors on Wednesday.

Joining the new board are Paola Agnese Bongini, Enrico Corradi, Giorgia Fontanesi, Mariaelena Fontanesi, Elisabetta Gualandri, Luigi Maramotti, Alessandro Merli, Ernestina Morstofolini, Edoardo Prezioso, Anna Chiara Svelto, Giovanni Filippo Emilio Viani and Lucio Igino Zanon di Valgiurata.

Credem's board of directors, which met at the end of the meeting, confirmed Lucio Igino Zanon di Valgiurata as chairman and Enrico Corradi and Luigi Maramotti as vice chairmen.

Webuild -- in the red by 0.5 percent -- reported Wednesday that it had acquired EUR5.5 billion in new orders since the beginning of the year at the end of March.

As the former Salini Impregilo explained, almost all of the new orders came from abroad, in markets such as Canada, the US, and Saudi Arabia. The significant order intake represents about 50 percent of the expected orders for the year 2024.

Added to this is a near-term commercial pipeline of more than EUR70 billion, fueled by the major investment plans launched in key markets monitored by the group, such as Central and Northern Europe, Australia, the U.S. and the Middle East.

The board of directors of Maire Tecnimont-which finished in the green by 1.3 percent-on Wednesday reviewed and approved the interim report for the year ended March 31. Net income was net to EUR46.6 million from EUR26.2 billion up 78 percent to 3.7 percent of revenues, up 100 basis points.

Revenues amounted to EUR1.3 billion, up from EUR957.9 billion, "mainly due to the progression of ongoing projects, including the advancement of engineering and procurement activities of the Hail and Ghasha project," spieha the company.

Among smallcaps, Seri Industrial takes the top spot with a 5.8 percent rise followed by Bioera, which climbs 4.9 percent. The company announced that it has filed an application with the Court of Milan for an extension of protective measures.

The decision follows confirmation by the same Milan court to extend the protective measures requested by the company as part of the negotiated crisis settlement procedure activated by Bioera.

SAES Getters - flat at EUR38.25 - announced Wednesday that it has proceeded to sign the binding Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 100 percentof the share capital of FMB Feinwerk- und Meßtechnik, which is currently owned by majority shareholder Uwe Schneck, minority shareholders Ingmar Lehmann and Jens Rekow, and the company Mardi Beteiligungs.

The agreed purchase price is EUR8 million.

Itway -- in the green by 0.5 percent -- on Wednesday disclosed that it closed 2023 with a pre-tax loss of EUR481,000 from one of EUR362,000 as of Dec. 31, 2022, while the net loss was EUR330,000 from one of EUR348,000.

Revenues in the period stood at EUR49.1 million from EUR46.7 million in 2022.

Elica - in the red by 1.3 percent - on Wednesday signaled that from April 26 it will start a new buyback plan for a maximum number of purchasable shares of 1 million.

Among SMEs, Caribbean Company is still not trading. The company reported Thursday that revenues for the first three months rose 4.2 percent year-on-year to EUR11.7 million from EUR11.2 million in the same period a year earlier.

Agatos, which is not yet trading, disclosed on Wednesday evening that the company and Macquarie Bank Limited have signed an agreement contingent on the payment of the Skyland capital increase and the signing of a settlement agreement with Sorgenia Spa.

Poligrafici Printing--which opens in the green by 0.6 percent after closing up 6.6 percent--reported Wednesday that it ended 2023 with consolidated revenues of EUR24.1 million from EUR28.0 million as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Ebitda stood at EUR4.9 million in 2023 from EUR6.1 million in the previous year.

Consolidated profit for the year was EUR1.5 million from EUR2.4 million in 2022. The company proposed distributing a dividend of EUR0.03 per share from EUR0.0295 in 2022.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 0.8 percent, the Shanghai Composite closed up 1.2 percent, and the Hang Seng is up 2.1 percent.

In New York, the Dow closed down 1.0 percent to 38,085.80, the Nasdaq gave up 0.6 percent to 15,611.76 and the S&P 500 finished down 0.5 percent to 5,048.42.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0730 from USD1.0717 on Thursday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2501 from USD1.2491 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD89.64 a barrel from USD87.57 a barrel Thursday evening and gold trades at USD2,344.98 an ounce from USD2,346.10 an ounce Thursday evening.

Friday's macroeconomic calendar calls for M3 money supply and private lending data to be released at 1000 CEST from the Eurozone.

Overseas, at 1430 CEST, it is the turn of the PCE index for the US and the price index for core personal expenditures, while from Canada at the same time wholesale and manufacturing sales are released.

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

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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