Mib bullish; BPER and Saipem act as locomotives

(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed bullish on Friday, placing the point bar in the 30,400 area, as trading rooms assessed a series of economic data and their implications for the ECB and Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook.

In the Eurozone, the December report revealed that inflation rose less than expected last month to 2.9 percent, while the core rate slowed to 3.4 percent, the lowest since March 2022.

Overseas, nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. increased by 216,000 in December, exceeding market forecasts of 170,000 and confirming the resilience of the largest global economy despite high interest rates from the star-studded central bank.

On the domestic front, Italian inflation continued to slow in December, ending the year sharply lower than the year before, Istat reported Friday. Consumer prices rose 0.6 percent year-on-year in December after rising 0.7 percent in November.

Thus, the FTSE Mib closed up 0.1 percent to 30,440.95, the Mid-Cap gave up 0.3 percent to 43,760.91, the Small-Cap lost 0.3 percent to 27,853.94, and Italy Growth finished down 0.1 percent to 8,294.55.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 gave up 0.4 percent as did Paris' CAC 40, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 left 0.1 percent on the parterre.

On the bluechip list, boost on Banco BPM, which raised the bar by 1.7%, closing for the fifth session in a row with a bullish candle.

Boost on Saipem, which closed ahead 2.0% at EUR1.56, benefiting from higher barrel prices. On the stock, Marshall Wace trimmed its short position to 1.61% from 1.56%, while Voleon Capital Management trimmed it to 0.65% from 0.74% previously.

High quarters also for BPER Bank, which brought home a green of 2.0 percent. On the stock it is mentioned that Balyasny Asset Management holds a short position at 0.51%.

On a bearish note, Recordati gave up 1.4% as it continues steadily in its buyback program. Most recently, it reported on Thursday that - in the week of Dec. 27 to Jan. 2 - it bought back its own ordinary shares worth about EUR606,000.

FinecoBank, on the other hand, gave up 1.1 percent after the 2.4 percent bullish candle with which it closed the previous session.

On the Mid-Cap, Ariston Holding advanced 4.9 percent to EUR6.38 per share, following up eve's green with 1.8 percent.

Industrie de Nora, on the other hand, advanced 2.6 percent, following Thursday evening's 0.1 percent gain.

Banca Ifis led the price up 1.3% to EUR16.02 following the 0.6% green on the eve.

Technoprobe advanced 1.4% on the heels of the eve's green close of 0.8%.

Saras, on the other hand, gave up 6.2 percent after eve's 1.6 percent green.

Among small-cap companies, Alkemy closed up 5.0% after two bearish sessions.

Aeroporto Guglielmo Marconi Di Bologna rose 0.2 percent after making it known that it definitely surpassed pre-pandemic traffic levels in 2023 and recorded the best year in its history, reaching close to 10 million passengers. In detail, the airport recorded nearly 10 million passengers, representing a growth of 17 percent over 2022 and 6.0 percent over 2019. After a still "lukewarm" start to the year, with numbers up on 2022 but still lower than the same period in 2019, the first reversal of the trend has been recorded since May, with the progressive passenger figure in the positive field by 0.5 percent even compared to the last year without Covid.

Fidia left 5.2 percent on the parterre, continuing its long bearish streak.

Also among the bearish - numerous in the list - Somec closed with a bearish candle of 4.2%, after Thursday's timid gain of 0.4%.

Among Milan-listed SMEs, Finanza.tech closed up more than 14 percent, after falling 0.5 percent in the previous session with price at EUR0.8860.

Energy advanced 7.5 percent to EUR2.30 per share, following up the double-digit gain seen in the eve.

eVISO advanced 5.5 percent with new price at EUR3.08 per share, following 3.6 percent green on eve.

Vantea SMART rose 2.1 percent after announcing Friday that it has been eligible for Abruzzo regional funding for the WTTM project. The company will receive a grant of EUR560,000 for a project whose total amount is EUR800,000. The WTTM - Welcome To The Machine project involves the design and testing of a cybersecurity framework to be applied to companies operating in the automotive world.

At the back of the pack, FAE Technology picked up 2.7 percent, rearing its head again after two sessions among the bearish.

Gismondi 1754 gave up 7.0% to EUR4.52 per share, in its third session in a row on the bearish side.

In New York, the Dow is advancing 0.1%, the Nasdaq is advancing 0.4% as is the S&P 500.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0968 against USD1.0956 recorded in Thursday's European stock close while the pound is worth USD1.2741 from USD1.2790 last night.

Brent crude is worth USD78.88 per barrel versus USD76.74 per barrel at Thursday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,049.11 an ounce from USD2,044.62 an ounce last night.

On Monday's macroeconomic calendar, at 0800 CET comes Germany's trade balance, while at 1030 CET the Sentix index of Eurozone investor confidence will be released.

Half an hour later it is the turn of Eurozone consumer confidence. Also from the single currency area, at 1100 CET the retail sales figure will be released along with the unemployment rate.

In the afternoon, from the States, an auction of three- and six-month Treasury bonds is scheduled at 1730 CET.

Among the companies listed on Piazza Affari, the results of Brunello Cucinelli and CleanBnB will come in.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News senior reporter

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