Europeans open flat; MPS tops on Mib.

(Alliance News) - Major European stock exchanges open close to parity Tuesday morning in the wake of the U.S., which closed flat on the eve of the Fed meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is in fractional green at 28,595.42, the Mid-Cap is in the red by 0.1 percent at 40,572.26, the Small-Cap rises by 0.1 percent to 26,357.56, and Italy Growth climbs by 0.1 percent to 8,638.61.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 opens flat, Paris' CAC 40 is down 0.2 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 gives up 0.1 percent.

"Everyone is concerned about oil prices and their impact on inflation data toward the end of the year. Although the recent pickup in U.S. price growth is unlikely to push the Fed into a hike on Wednesday, another hike before the end of the year seems more plausible," commented Chris Beauchamp, IG analyst.

On Eccles Building, in the CME Group platform FedWatch Tool, using futures also based on the actual federal funds rate, or EFFR, the rate confirmation at Wednesday's meeting has a 99 percent probability for the 525/550 bp range confirmation. In contrast, the 25 bps rise in the 550/575 bps target is priced at 1%.

In Milan, on the main list of Piazza Affari, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena opens at the top with 2.0% followed by Banco BPM and Hera, which advance 0.9% and 0.8% respectively.

Rounding out the podium are Leonardo, Eni, BPER Banca, and Stellantis, all advancing 0.7%.

Assicurazioni Generali -- up 0.2 percent -- reported Monday that rating agency Fitch said it had raised its rating on Generali's Insurance Financial Strength to "A+" from "A," with a stable outlook.

The agency also raised its Issuer Default Rating to "A" from "A-."

Saipem opens up with 0.2 percent on the day of the start of trading in Vienna of the EUR500 million senior unsecured equity-linked bond maturing in 2029 issued last Sept. 11.

At the other end of the list, Moncler gives up 1.5 percent. RBC cut the stock's target price to EUR62.00 from EUR64.00.

CNH Industrial retreats 1.7 percent and ends at the bottom.

On the Mid-Cap, Credito Emiliano -- in the green by 0.9 percent -- placed a new bond on Monday, aimed at institutional and professional investors, in the amount of EUR500 million. The issue, in the Senior Preferred format will go to support social sustainability activities and highlights the group's commitment to ESG, the company points out in a note. The deal attracted interest from the market with orders for about EUR1 billion, which is substantially twice the offer.

LUVE, up 1.3 percent, and Sesa, up 1.0 percent, also did well.

Webuild--green by 0.1%--reported Monday that it is planning a roadshow to present a possible fixed-rate senior bond to investors.

Proceeds from the new bonds will be used to refinance part of the EUR500.0 million bonds due in October 2024 and EUR750.0 million due in December 2025.

Maire Tecnimont -- in the red by 0.3 percent -- on Monday disclosed that it is known that the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has approved the prospectus for the public offering of Maire bonds to 2028. Specifically, this is a non-convertible bond for up to EUR200 million, with a maturity of five years and a minimum fixed interest rate of 6 percent pa. The minimum denomination that can be subscribed is EUR1,000 and the issue price is 100 percent of par value.

On the Small-Cap, the board of directors of Aeffe -- in the red by 0.6 percent -- on Monday announced that the deed of merger by incorporation of its wholly owned subsidiary Moschino Spa was signed today to take effect Oct. 1, 2023.

At the highs are Conafi and Bialetti Industrie, which garner 4.7 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.

Itway, on the other hand, rises 18 percent after closing up 4.6 percent. The company reported Monday that its subsidiary 4Science Spa, which is consolidated in Itway's financial statements and specializes in the Big Data, Digital Repositories and Data Management Systems market, reported first-half revenues at EUR1.7 million, up 37 percent from the same period in 2022 when they were EUR1.2 million, and Ebitda at EUR121,708 from EUR201,182 in the first half of 2022. However,the company posted a loss of EUR49,880, from a profit of EUR30,607 in the same period last year, pushed down by a 40 percent increase in personnel costs.

Beewize--which still does not trade after closing down 2.2 percent--reported Friday that the board of directors approved the condensed consolidated half-yearly financial statements as of June 30 reporting a loss of EUR673,000 from a loss of EUR1.8 million in the first half of 2022. Net revenues amounted to EUR2.65 million in line with EUR2.59 million in the same period last year.

Among SMEs, in a still uneventful list, Askoll EVA is still not pricing. It announced on Monday that it had struck a EUR100,000 deal with Città di Leonia cooperativa sociale to supply 35 electric scooters that will be deployed in the Neapolitan municipalities of San Giorgio a Cremano, Portici and Ercolano, in sharing mode, where Askoll EVA is landing for the first time.

Growens is not yet trading. On Monday, it reported that it had reviewed and approved the consolidated half-year situation as of June 30, which closed with a decrease in revenues of just under 5 percent in the first half, to EUR35.6 million compared to the first half of 2022, when it was EUR37.4 million, "due to the contraction of revenues in the CPaaS division, in deference to the strategic line of focusing on margins," the company wrote in the released note.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed 0.8 percent in the red at 33,264.00, the Hang Seng rose 0.4 percent to 17,988.00, and the Shanghai Composite closed fractionally in the red at 3,124.96.

In New York on European night, the Dow closed in fractional green at 34,624.30, as did the Nasdaq at 13,710.24 and the S&P 500 at 4,453.53.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0676 versus USD1.0689 in Monday's European equities close, while the pound was worth USD1.2375 from USD1.2394 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD94.88 per barrel versus USD94.73 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,932.37 an ounce from USD1,927.49 an ounce on Monday evening.

On Tuesday's economic calendar, from the Eurozone at 1000 CEST comes the current account balance, followed at 1100 CEST by the consumer price index.

From the U.S. at 1430 CEST come the various reports on the construction industry, while at 2230 CEST will be coming the weekly oil inventories figure.

On the corporate calendar, results from Franchi Umberto Marmi, Gibus and Toscana Aeroporti are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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