Mib up with Cucinelli; down Italy household confidence

(Alliance News) - On Thursday, major European stock markets continued to rise slightly in mid-session as traders "digested" several macroeconomic data.

Italian consumer confidence worsened slightly in March and the same trend affected business confidence, Istat reported Thursday.

In March, the consumer confidence index fell from 97.0 to 96.5 while the composite indicator of business confidence rose from 95.9 to 97.0.

The Federal Labor Agency on Thursday reported that Germany's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained stable at 5.9 percent in March, unchanged from the previous month and at its highest level since May 2021.

The number of unemployed rose by 4,000 to 2.719 million, marking the 15th consecutive period of rising unemployment.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.2 percent to 34,837.10, the Mid-Cap is up 0.3 percent to 48,353.78, the Small-Cap is tied at 28,471.44, and Italy Growth gains 0.1 percent to 8,091.18.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is up 0.6 percent to 8,251.03, London's FTSE 100 is gaining 0.3 percent to 7,956.80 and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 0.1 percent to 18,503.85.

On the Mib, Brunello Cucinelli does best, up 3.6% to EUR107.10 per share at mid-session.

Eni rises 0.3%. Ithaca Energy said Wednesday that it was in talks to combine Eni's UK operations, in a deal that would see the Italian oil major acquire a near 40 percent stake in the North Sea operator in exchange.

Intesa Sanpaolo--up 0.7 percent--reported Wednesday that it and a pool of international banks had taken part in USD315 million in financing for Mytilineos to build four solar parks in Chile.

Mytilineos is a Greek company involved in the construction and development of renewable energy projects.

On the Mid-Cap, Fincantieri -- up 4.2 percent -- and the Indonesian Ministry of Defense announced Thursday that they have signed a contract, as part of the collaborative relationship initiated by the Italian Ministry of Defense, for the supply of two PPA units, worth EUR1.18 billion.

El.En. continues to run and gains 10 percent while Juventus FC rises 2.3 percent after almost fully subscribing to the capital increase.

Among the smallcaps, RCS MediaGroup gives up 0.8 percent after it reported Wednesday that it closed fiscal year 2023 with a net profit of EUR57.0 million from EUR50.1 million a year earlier and proposed the distribution of a dividend of EUR0.07 per share from EUR0.06 a year earlier.

Revenues amounted to EUR828.0 million from EUR845.0 million in 2022.

EuroGroup Laminations is down 0.2 percent to EUR3.75 per share after reporting Thursday that it ended 2023 with a net income of EUR38.6 million, which compares with EUR43.8 million in the previous year.

In 2023, revenues were EUR835.9 million, down slightly by 1.8 percent from 2022, when they were EUR851.1 million. The result was driven by solid growth in the EV & Automotive segment, which almost completely offset the decline in the Industrial segment.

Itway - up 1.3 percent - let it be known that Roberto Castelli, former founder of Bcloud and Strategic Consultant of Itway since February 2023, will take over as commercial director of the company in March 2024 to support the commercial structure of the Cybersecurity & Resiliency Business Unit.

Exprivia gives up 8.0 percent after letting it be known that the board of directors has approved the plan to merge Exprivia into Abaco3.

Among SMEs, Valica--not yet affected by trading--reported that shareholders have delegated the company's board to carry out a maximum EUR7.0 million capital increase.

Neosperience - in parity - reported on Thursday that its subsidiary Value China has obtained the Commercial Authorization Certificate from Xiaohongshu - Little Red Book - and organized the first European seminar dedicated to Western companies to launch the Chinese social commerce platform, which has become a spokesman for Italian excellence in China.

EdiliziAcrobatica gives up 5.7 percent after announcing Thursday that it reported a net profit of EUR6.1 million in 2023 from EUR14.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2022.

The company let it know that it proposed to distribute a dividend of EUR0.15 per share from EUR0.80. Consolidated revenues for the period stood at EUR158.8 million, up 18 percent from EUR134.5 million.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Thursday down 1.5 percent to 40,168.07, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.6 percent to 3,010.66 and the Hang Seng closed up 0.9 percent to 16,541.42.

In New York, the Dow closed Wednesday up 1.2 percent to 39,760.08, the Nasdaq rose 0.5 percent to 16,399.52 while the S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent to 5,248.49.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0793 against USD1.0822 recorded at Wednesday's European stock close while the pound was worth USD1.2617 from USD1.2627 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD86.49 per barrel versus USD86.08 per barrel at Wednesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,193.28 an ounce from USD2,191.90 an ounce last night.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar includes, from the US, at 1330 CET, GDP and weekly unemployment benefit claims.

At 1800 CET, the Baker Hughes drilling rig data are due. In the evening, at 2130 CET, the weekly balance sheet and reserves at the Federal Reserve.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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