Mib bullish dragged by Saipem and Cucinelli

(Alliance News) - On Monday, European markets -- with Piazza Affari above 31,400 -- kicked off the new trading week on the upside, as investors focus their attention on increasing corporate results, as well as the interest rate outlook of major central banks.

Thus, the FTSE Mib closed in the green by 1.0 percent at 31,456.73.

The Mid-Cap closed up 0.9 percent to 45,573.28, the Small-Cap picks up 1.1 percent to 27,520.12 while Italy Growth rises 0.5 percent to 8,123.28.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 picked up 0.5 percent, London's FTSE 100 closed just above par, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 gained 0.7 percent.

On the Mib, Saipem took the top spot on the list, up 5.9 percent, after 0.2 percent in the red on the eve of trading.

Also doing well was Brunello Cucinelli, up 2.8%, in its eighth bullish session and priced at EUR103.40.

Good buys also on Iveco, which moved the price ahead 2.1% after 7.7% in the previous session.

Among the bearish Amplifon, in the red by 0.4 percent veered lower after five bullish sessions.

Also among the few bearish was Mediobanca, which closed down 0.4 percent in its sixth session among the bearish. The bank reported Thursday that it closed the first half of its 2023-2024 fiscal year with a net profit up 10 percent to EUR611.2 million from EUR555.5 million in the same period a year earlier.

On the cadet segment, Saras gives up 3.7 percent after announcing that Massimo Moratti Sapa's Angel Capital Management Spa and Stella Holding Spa and Vitol BV, a Dutch company, have entered into a sale and purchase agreement under which the Moratti family has agreed to sell shares in Saras representing about 35 percent of the company's share capital to Vitol at a price of EUR1.75 per share. The price per share implies a capitalization of Saras around EUR1.7 billion.

Unipolsai, on the other hand, gave up 2.2 percent to EUR2.42 per share after two sessions in the green.

Tod's rose about 18 percent after the company and L Catterton announced Saturday that the Italian listed company's majority shareholders-Dego and Andrea Della Valle through their vehicles-have signed a framework agreement with Crown Bidco for the latter to buy 11.9 million shares at EUR43.00 each, or 46 percent of the share capital, aimed at delisting from the Italian stock exchange. Crown Bidco's share capital is wholly owned by LC10 International AIV, a fund managed by affiliates of L Catterton Management, formed through a partnership between Catterton and LVMH.

Boost also on Salvatore Ferragamo, which brought the bar up 6.1 percent, following a 1.5 percent red finish in the previous session.

Anima Holding, on the other hand, rallied 4.1 percent, rearing its head after three bearish sessions at EUR4.21 per share.

Among smallcaps, Beewize rallied more than 11 percent with new price at EUR0.64 per share. Of note, over 140,000 pieces were traded on the stock compared to a three-month daily average of about 18,600.

Autostrade Meridionali, on the other hand, rallied 9.6 percent to EUR13.15 per share after two sessions closed in the red.

Piquadro gave up 0.5 percent, priced at EUR2.08 per share. The company reported Thursday that revenues for the first nine months rose to EUR131.5 million from EUR126.8 million in the same period a year earlier.

Banca Sistema left 0.5 percent at EUR1.20 per share on the parterre, in its third bearish session. The board of directors on Friday approved consolidated balance sheet schedules as of Dec. 31, which closed with a net profit of EUR16.5 million compared to EUR22.0 million in 2022. Net interest income of EUR67.0 million was down 22 percent year-on-year,

Among SMEs, Go Internet advanced 7.3 percent and bringing the price to EUR0.7696.

Comal -- in the green by 1.7 percent -- announced Monday that it has signed a contract worth about EUR27.5 million with a leading Italian energy company for the turnkey, EPC-M supply of a photovoltaic plant in southern Italy. The contract also includes the sale of the "SUN HUNTER" tracker, a proprietary product designed and manufactured by Comal in its Montalto di Castro factory.

Almawave -- up 2.7 percent -- announced Monday that it has obtained "prestigious certifications related to the use of Artificial Intelligence" in healthcare, a sector "that requires strict compliance with authorities' standards." Almawave, in the past two years, has worked to obtain two prestigious certifications in the healthcare field-issued by the DNV certifying body-synonymous with authority and quality of offerings, it noted in a note.

Instead, Franchetti gave up 4.8 percent, with new price at EUR5.58 per share, in profit taking interrupting a long bullish trend.

E-Globe closed down 2.1 percent, after 3.3 percent green on eve.

In New York, the Dow is in the green by 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq is up 0.5 percent, and the S&P 500 trades bullish by 0.4 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0776 versus USD1.0785 recorded at Friday's European stock close, while the pound is worth USD1.2628 from USD1.2631 on Friday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD81.73 per barrel versus USD81.51 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,016.30 an ounce from USD2,035.75 an ounce on Friday night.

Tuesday's calendar calls for the British unemployment rate at 0800 CET. At 1110 CET, Italy will hold an auction of BTPs with maturities of three, five, seven, 15 and 30 years.

At 1430 CET, from the US, eyes on the consumer price index while at 2230 CET it will be the turn of weekly oil stocks.

Also on Tuesday, markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai will remain closed.

In Piazza Affari, the accounts of AbitareIn, Arterra Bioscience, BasicNet, Elica, Riba Mundo Tecnologia and Unidata are expected.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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