(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari dances around parity for most of the first half of Monday's session, following PMIs from major European economies released in the morning.

In detail, the PMI index for the Eurozone manufacturing sector fell slightly in September to 43.4 from 43.5 in August. This basically marks the 15th consecutive month in which the headline index registers a lower value of 50.0, thus indicating a sharp deterioration in the health of the Eurozone's manufacturing sector.

Italy's manufacturing PMI, on the other hand, rose to 46.8 in September from 45.4 in August, but remained below the 50.0 level that separates contraction from expansion in sector activity.

On the labor front, unemployment in Italy fell to 7.3 percent in August from 7.5 percent in July while the figure among young people dropped to 22.0 percent from 22.1 percent the previous month. In the Eurozone, meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted Eurozone unemployment rate was 6.4 percent, down from 6.5 percent in July and from 6.7 percent in August 2022.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is tied at 28,241.28, the Mid-Cap gains 0.2 percent to 39,772.97, the Small-Cap is up 0.1 percent to 25,813.06 while Italy Growth is down 0.3 percent to 8,297.54.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is parity at 7,134.72, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is virtually unchanged at 15,381.58 while London's FTSE 100 is down 0.4 percent at 7,581.31.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, Prysmian is doing better than all and is up 0.7 percent. The company said it has won new orders worth a total of about EUR1.1 billion awarded by 50Hertz, a transmission network operator in Germany.

Assicurazioni Generali -- down 0.4 percent -- announced Monday that Giulio Terzariol will join the group as CEO Insurance, a newly created role with responsibility for all insurance business units, starting in January 2024.

Terzariol will report directly to Group CEO, Philippe Donnet, and will join Assicurazioni Generali's Group Management Committee.

Down goes Eni, down 0.2 percent, despite announcing a major gas discovery made from the Geng North-1 well drilled in the North Ganal license, about 85 km off the east coast of Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Preliminary estimates indicate total volumes of 5 trillion cubic feet of gas-equivalent to about 140 billion cubic meters-with condensate content up to about 400 million barrels. The data acquired will allow the study of options for accelerated development.

Oil did poorly, with Tenaris giving up 0.5 percent, and Saipem, losing 1.1 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, in fashion, Brunello Cucinelli gives up 1.9 percent. On the stock, Goldman Sachs gave a 'buy' rating with a target price of EUR87.00.

In the wake, Salvatore Ferragamo drops 1.0 percent. Société Générale cut its target price on the stock to EUR9.00 from EUR10.00 per share on the stock.

Maire Tecnimont - in the red by 0.9 percent - reported that the public offering of the Senior Unsecured Sustainability-Linked Notes Due October 5, 2028 launched on September 26 was closed early, thanks to strong demand from institutional and retail investors that allowed the maximum amount of EUR200 million to be reached on the third day.

As part of the offering, bonds totaling EUR200 million were subscribed at an issue price of 100 percent of their par value, represented by 200,000 bonds with a par value of EUR1,000 each.

On the Small-Cap, Safilo Group rises 0.4 percent after announcing on Friday that contracts have been signed for the sale of business units related to the Longarone plant to sector companies Thélios and Innovatek.

The closing of the transactions, subject to the fulfillment of conditions precedent, is expected at the end of October.

Cairo Communication--up 1.5 percent--reported that Stefania Bedogni, in view of the termination of her employment with RCS MediaGroup Spa and her consequent exit from the group, has resigned from her position as a board member of the company.

Bioera plunges 13 percent after reporting that it closed the first half with revenues of EUR0.0 million compared to EUR400,000 in the first half of 2022.

The net result shows a loss of EUR1.6 million compared to a loss of EUR1.2 million in the first half of 2022; the net result is affected by a EUR900,000 charge resulting from the valuation of the group's stake in Splendor Investments SA, which was put into liquidation after June 30 following the sale of the only asset it held.

Fidia -- on a parity basis -- reported Friday that it closed the first half of the year with net revenues of EUR9.0 million down from EUR9.4 million in the first half of 2022, and a loss of EUR2.1 million, from a profit of EUR8.5 million recorded in the same period of 2022.

Among SMEs, Prismi gave up 12 percent after reporting that it closed the first half with a value of production of EUR9.4 million from EUR10.3 million in the same period last year.

Pre-tax loss increased to EUR3.5 million from EUR2.7 million while net loss widened to EUR3.6 million from EUR2.6 million.

Askoll EVA is flat at EUR0.42 per share after announcing on Monday that it had entered into an agreement with "Emissione Zero Procida" for the supply of electric scooters that will be deployed in sharing mode on the island of Procida, where Askoll EVA is landing for the first time.

The models deployed on the island will be Askoll eS2 sharing 2.8s, with the addition of equipment and accessories, for an order value of about EUR65,000.

Riba Mundo Tecnologia drops 1.3 percent after reporting Friday that it closed the first half of the year with revenues up to EUR183.6 million from EUR121.4 million in the same period a year earlier.

Net income, however, dropped to EUR900,000 from EUR2.3 million in the first half of 2022.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Monday down 0.3 percent to 31,759.88 as Shanghai and Hong Kong did not open due to a national holiday.

In New York, the Dow closed Friday down 0.5 percent to 33,507.50, the Nasdaq gained 0.1 percent to 13,219.32 and the S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 4,288.05.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0549 against USD1.0589 in closing European equities while the pound was instead worth USD1.2178 from USD1.2207 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD92.47 per barrel from USD95.24 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,838.07 an ounce from USD1,860.56 an ounce Friday evening.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar continues in the afternoon with the U.S. manufacturing PMI, due at 1600 CEST.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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