Mib bullish; Maire and Webuild up double digits

(Alliance News) - The Mib closed higher on Tuesday, taking the point bar above the 33,100 mark, with trading rooms awaiting several significant events this week, including the ECB meeting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's hearing in Congress and the U.S. jobs report.

On the domestic front, fourth-quarter Gross Domestic Product growth was pegged at 0.6 percent year-on-year, slightly exceeding initial estimates of 0.5 percent while February's composite PMI rose to 51.1 from 50.7 the previous month.

Thus, the FTSE Mib finished up 0.1 percent at 32,146.16, the Mid-Cap closed just below par at 45,935.84, the Small-Cap gave up 1.0 percent to 27,592.53 while Italy Growth left 0.1 percent at 8,197.03 on the parterre.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 gave up 0.3 percent, London's FTSE 100 advanced 0.1 percent while Frankfurt's DAX 40 closed down 0.1 percent.

On the Mib, boost on Tenaris, which closed up 3.6 percent at EUR16.99 per share. The company, which is continuing with its buyback program, comuined Friday that between Feb. 26 and March 1 it bought back shares worth a total of EUR82.2 million.

A2A, on the other hand, closed in the green by 3.28 percent, on its third bullish candle and as the best on the list.

Strength also on Hera, which led the price ahead 2.7 percent, after the previous session's 0.9 percent red.

DiaSorin gave up 0.1 percent. The company announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its new Liaison Plex platform and its first test panel, the Liaison Plex Respiratory Flex Assay. Liaison Plex expands and consolidates DiaSorin's position in the syndromic multiplexing market, which has a global value of about USD2.9 billion and is estimated to grow to about USD4 billion by 2027.

Moncler, on the other hand, left 1.4 percent on the parterre at EUR65.98 per share, on the heels of a 0.8 percent loss on the eve. Worth mentioning, Stifel on Monday raised its target price to EUR62.00 from EUR56.00 with a 'hold' recommendation.

STMicroelectronics, on the other hand, closed on a negative note of 1.2 percent at EUR42.41 per share, on the heels of eve's bearish candle with 0.9 percent.

On the cadet segment, the board of Maire Tecnimont -- up more than 11 percent -- met Tuesday to review and approve the 2023 financial statements, which closed with a net profit of EUR129.5 million, up 43 percent on the previous year. The board proposed the distribution of a dividend of EUR0.197 per share, up 59 percent from the previous year, increasing the payout ratio from 45 percent to 50 percent.

Webuild equally rises 11 percent after announcing Tuesday that subsidiary Lane has acquired the USD299 million project to build the "Seminole Expressway/SR 417 Project" in Florida. With this contract, Webuild, through Lane, confirms a strong presence in the U.S., its second most important non-domestic market after Australia in terms of revenue.

Iren, on the other hand, rallied 3.8 percent, rearing its head again after two bearish sessions.

Banca Popolare di Sondrio gave up 0.1 percent after announcing Monday the launch of a cash repurchase offer of its fixed-rate subordinated bond with a total outstanding nominal amount of EUR200.0 million maturing on July 30, 2029. The bank also announced the issuance of a fixed-rate bond called "EUR5.00 billion Euro Medium Term Note Program," intended for institutional investors in Italy and abroad excluding the US.

Piaggio -- in the red by 3.1 percent -- announced Monday that it had posted a net profit of EUR91.1 million in 2023, up 7.3 percent from EUR84.9 million in 2022. This is, the company pointed out, "the best result ever." The board will also propose a dividend balance of 8 cents per share, bringing the total dividend to 20.5 cents per share, up from 18.5 cents a year earlier.

Seco, on the other hand, left 5.1 percent on the parterre after a 1.4 percent green in the previous session.

On the Small-Cap segment, SS Lazio closed by stepping up 5.0 percent with new price at EUR0.7160 per share, just days after the publication of its accounts.

Aeroporto Guglielmo Marconi of Bologna advanced 3.6 percent to EUR7.98 per share, after eve's loss of 2.8 percent.

Itway rallied 1.5 percent, closing for the third session in a row on a bullish trend.

doValue ended the session down 6.6 percent, following up on the eve's red closed with minus 4.5 percent. Citadel Advisors raised its short on the stock to 0.80 percent from 0.77 percent previously.

Eems closed down 4.4 percent, heading for the third session to close bearish. The company let it be known on Monday that the share regrouping operation took place. In detail, the regrouping took place in the ratio of one new no par value common share with regular dividend entitlement for every 250 existing no par value common shares with regular dividend entitlement.

Among SMEs, FAE Technology rose 1.9 percent to EUR4.50, but touched a high of EUR5.16 during the day. The company announced Monday that it had finalized an agreement with Ray Ozzie, who takes on the role of Technology Advisor to the group. The U.S. entrepreneur and innovator, formerly chief technical officer and chief software architect at Microsoft from 2005 to 2010 and now founder and CEO of Blues Wireless, will support the group in extending its business model, with a focus on opportunities in the edge computing and artificial intelligence markets.

Doxee, on the other hand, advanced 5.2 percent, rebounding after a seven-session downtrend.

Imprendiroma, among the negative notes, closed down 7.9 percent, after a 4.6 percent green on eve.

Eprcomunication gave up 4.6 percent, in its fifth bearish session.

In New York, the Dow is giving up 0.8 percent, the Nasdaq is marking minus 1.8 percent, and the S&P 500 is stepping back 1.0 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0865 against USD1.0859 recorded in Monday's European stock close, while the pound is worth USD1.2722 from USD1.2696 on Monday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD82.66 per barrel versus USD83.25 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,124.15 an ounce from USD2,116.67 an ounce last night.

On Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar, coming in at 0800 CET is Germany's trade balance, followed half an hour later by the construction PMI for Italy, Germany, France and the Eurozone, while the same indicator will come in for the UK at 0930 CET.

At 1100 CET, again from the Eurozone, the retail sales report is due.

From the U.S., at 1300 CET will come the report on the mortgage market while at 1415 CET will be the turn of the U.S. data on nonfarm ccupation.

At 1600 CET, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's hearing in the US Congress will begin, followed half an hour later by the crude oil stocks figure, the EIA report and the Cushing inventory report.

Among the companies in the Italian stock market, Banca Mediolanum, BPER Bank, Carel Industries, Nexi, Pirelli, Porto Aviation, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Telecom Italia are expected to reap rewards.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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