Milan lone in red; Unipol on top

(Alliance News) - At mid-session Monday, the Mib remains the only European list to follow a bearish course, weighed down by some banking stocks on a quiet day from a macroeconomic perspective.

Thus, the FTSE Mib gives up 1.3 percent to 34,925.01, Mid-Cap is down 0.8 percent to 47,962.60, Small-Cap is down 0.3 percent to 29,380.27 while Italy Growth is down 0.3 percent to 8,221.48.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the green by 0.4 percent, London's FTSE100 rises 0.2 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 advances 0.4 percent.

On the Mib, Unipol gains 2.6 percent followed by Eni, which rises 1.5 percent.

Saipem advances 1.2% and closes the podium. The company announced Thursday that it has been awarded a new offshore contract by Azule Energy Angola to develop the Ndungu Field project, as part of the Agogo Integrated West Hub project, located about 180 kilometers off the coast of Angola. The value of the contract is approximately USD850 million.

In addition, Brent futures rose above USD84 a barrel Monday, extending last week's gains, after Iranian state media reported that "there are no signs of life" at the crash site of the helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, fueling political uncertainty in a major oil-producing nation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was also with him in the helicopter.

The other oil, Tenaris, is in the green by 0.6 percent.

Also doing well are Azimut Holding up 1.2 percent, Leonardo and ERG with 1.1 percent.

At the tail end of the list, however, are Banca Popolare di Sondrio, down 3.1 percent, BPER Banca, down 2.9 percent, and Banco BPM, down 1.4 percent.

Ariston Holding, on the other hand, leads the cadet list with a 2.9 percent rise, followed by Caltagirone in the green by 2.3 percent.

El.En. gives up 0.4 percent. The company's board approved the interim report as of March 31, with a positive pretax result of EUR14.4 million, which is a 13 percent decrease from EUR16.6 million as of March 31, 2023.

Moltiply Group is in the red by 0.8 percent. The company announced Thursday that its Mavriq Division has signed binding agreements to acquire a leading online comparison and brokerage operator in the Netherlands. The agreed entreprise value for 100 percent of Pricewise's shares is EUR25.0 million, and the purchase will be financed through cash and/or use of already available credit lines.

Acea Ambiente, a subsidiary of Acea -- in the green by 0.6 percent -- submitted a bid by the deadline regarding the call for tenders published by Roma Capitale for the award of the concession of the plant hub relating to the design, authorization to operate, construction and management of a waste-to-energy plant and related ancillary plant engineering.

On the Small-Cap, Met.Extra Group is at the top with a rise of 7.8 percent, followed by CSP International in the green by 5.3 percent.

Netweek remains flat at EUR0.05. The company announced Thursday that it had signed a contract to acquire 100 percent of Telecity 2, a company into which the television and publishing activities of the Telecity group, a leader in Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria, and Valle d'Aosta, had been contributed. The price paid for 100 percent of Telecity 2 is EUR6 million and includes -- among others -- the television activities of the four regional broadcasters, the Assago office and about 40 employees.

Alkemy's shares rise 0.9 percent. The company closed with a profit of EUR200,000 down 63% from EUR700,000 in the same period of 2023.

Caleffi rises 2.3%. The company reported that a buyback plan already approved by shareholders this week will be launched today. The purpose of the plan is to purchase a maximum of EUR200,000 of its own ordinary shares.

Triboo gives up 0.8 percent after reporting first quarter revenues of EUR17.8 million from EUR22.6 million as of March 31, 2023.

Ebitda in the period stood at EUR2.3 million from EUR2.9 million in Q1 2023.

Among SMEs, ICF Group rises 2.1 percent after announcing Monday the launch of a new buyback plan for a maximum of 1 million shares and a total value of EUR8 million.

Strength on iVision tech, which rises 7.7 percent. The company reported that its board of directors approved the issuance of two bonds with a total countervalue of EUR7.0 million.

SG Co--up 8.2 percent--reported Friday that the value of the group's contracted order book as of April 30 was approximately EUR19.3 million, up 87 percent from the figure for the same period a year earlier, when it was EUR10.3 million. The figure is equivalent to 65 percent of the group's consolidated revenue of EUR29.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2023.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the green 0.7 percent to 39,069.68, the Hang Seng was up 0.4 percent to 19,636.22, and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.5 percent to 3,171.15.

In New York on Friday, the Dow closed up 0.3 percent at 40,003.59, the Nasdaq finished down 0.1 percent at 16,685.97 and the S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 5,303.27.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0868 from USD1.0874 on Friday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2704 from USD1.2701 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD83.78 per barrel from USD83.26 per barrel Friday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,442.50 an ounce from USD2,406.48 an ounce on Friday night.

No relevant macros are expected from the US in the afternoon, where instead three- and six-month T-Note auctions will be held at 1730 CEST.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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