Mib up on eve of inflation; banks good

(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed Wednesday's trading session up on the heels of gains recorded by other European stock exchanges.

IG's Axel Rudolph said, "Equity indexes remained little changed despite speeches from several members of the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of FOMC minutes and after Nvidia's earnings."

"Meanwhile, the U.K. public sector posted its largest surplus on record and CBI factory orders were higher than expected, both factors indicating that the current recession may prove to be shallow. In the U.S., mortgage rates are back above the 7 percent threshold while in Canada new home prices fell unexpectedly."

The FTSE Mib closed up 1.0 percent to 32,018.40, the Mid-Cap gained 0.5 percent to 45,551.29, the Small-Cap was up 0.1 percent to 27,537.97, and Italy Growth was up 0.1 percent to 8,129.58.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 lost 0.8 percent, Paris' CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 closed up 0.3 percent.

On the Mib, good session for Mediobanca, which closed up 4.2 percent, doing better than Banca Generali, up 1.2 percent, and BPER Banca, up 3.9 percent.

Deutsche Bank raised its target price on Monte dei Paschi to EUR5.10 from EUR4.40. The stock rose 3.1% to EUR3.5570 per share.

Enel -- up 0.9 percent -- announced Tuesday that it had successfully launched on the European market the issuance of a EUR900 million non-convertible, subordinated hybrid perpetual bond with euro denomination to institutional investors. The bond was oversubscribed more than 3 times, totaling orders amounting to more than EUR3 billion.

A2A -- up 0.1 percent -- reported Tuesday that its board of directors reviewed preliminary consolidated results for fiscal year 2023, which closed with Ebitda of EUR1.97 billion, up 32 percent from EUR1.50 billion in 2022. Ordinary Ebitda, i.e., net of extraordinary items recorded in the period, stood at EUR1.93 billion up 30 percent from FY2022 when it was EUR1.49 billion.

On the Mid-Cap, reversal for Salvatore Ferragamo, which closed down 0.6 percent, giving ground for the third day in a row despite a positive start.

Maire Tecnimont -- up 3.6 percent -- announced Wednesday that it has been awarded an EPC contract by Eni Spa to build a hydrogen production plant at Eni's Livorno refinery. The total value of the contract is EUR123 million and the project is scheduled for completion in 2026.

Banca Ifis - also among the best, up 2.1 percent - announced on Tuesday evening that it had completed the placement of a senior preferred unsecured bond issue as part of its EMTN issuance program in the amount of EUR400 million. The transaction was intended for institutional investors.

Technoprobe, on the other hand, gave up 2.7 percent, closing down for the third bearish session in a row.

On the Small-Cap, Giglio Group reversed broken after the good form seen since the bell rang, dropping 0.9 percent to EUR0.4260 per share after a 2.3 percent loss on the eve of the session.

Doing best of all, however, was Beewize, up 11%, in its fourth bullish session in a row.

Among PMIs, International Care Company, up 5.6 percent and in its third consecutive session closed among gainers, and Health Italia, up 4.8 percent, did well.

Eles - at a tie - reported Tuesday that its board of directors reviewed its pre-closing figures for 2023 consolidated sales revenues, which were found to be EUR32.8 million, up 26 percent from EUR26.1 million in 2022.

In New York, the Dow is down 0.2% to 38,488.37, the Nasdaq is down 0.6% to 15,530.05 and the S&P is down 0.2% to 4,963.38.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0809 versus USD1.0815 recorded at Tuesday's European stock close, while the pound is worth USD1.2612 from USD1.2645 Tuesday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD82.57 per barrel versus USD82.36 per barrel at Tuesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,028.77 an ounce from USD2,027.37 an ounce on Tuesday evening.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar features preliminary manufacturing, services, and composite PMIs for France, Germany, the Eurozone, and the UK between 0915 CET and 1030 CET, with Italian inflation in between at 1000 CET.

Consumer prices will also be released for the Eurozone, at 1100 CET, two and a half hours before the release of the minutes of the latest European Central Bank meeting.

Overseas, room for jobless claims, at 1430 CET, and PMIs, due at 1545 CET, before home sales data, due out at 1600 CET.

Crude oil stocks data will be released at 1700 CET while closing the day will be the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, due at 2230 CET.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, doValue, Matica Fintec, Recordati, Talea Group and TXT e-solutions will release results.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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