(Alliance News) - Major European stock exchanges are expected to open Monday's session in the red, according to IG futures. Brent crude has once again reached USD111 per barrel following renewed tensions between the US and Iran and a lack of progress in negotiations regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. These developments have fueled inflation fears, strengthening expectations for interest rate hikes.
Tensions in the bond market remain in the spotlight today, following a week in which government bond yields in major economies surged. This followed a series of inflation data points showing a faster-than-expected acceleration in prices, driven by rising energy costs linked to the Middle East, as noted by Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote.
On the macro front, Chinese industrial production grew by 4.1% year-on-year in April, falling short of the 5.9% forecast by analysts and the 5.7% recorded the previous month.
Consequently, the FTSE MIB is expected to open down 0.5%, after having shed 1.9% to 49,116.47 points.
London's FTSE 100 is expected to drop 0.3%, Paris's CAC 40 is seen down 1.0%, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 declined by 0.8%.
Returning to Milan, among the smaller Italian indices, the Mid-Cap finished up 0.3% at 60,683.54 points, the Small-Cap shed 1.0% to 34,615.39 points, while Italy Growth retreated 0.2% to 8,893.90 points.
On the MIB, Avio was among the few gainers, pushing its price up by 2.1%. Notably, PDT Partners increased its short position on the stock to 2.12% from 2.05%, while Walleye Capital raised its position to 1.24% from the previous 1.19%.
Telecom Italia - trading slightly above par - announced on Thursday that Fitch has upgraded the group's rating to 'BB+' from 'BB', confirming a Stable outlook. The rating agency attributed the decision to the progressive strengthening of cash generation, supported by operational efficiencies, lower financial charges, and the stabilization of capex and working capital.
Unipol - down 0.8% - announced on Friday that it closed the first quarter of 2026 with a reported consolidated net result of EUR329 million, a 15% increase compared to EUR285 million as of March 31, 2025. The consolidated net result, including the contribution from the stake in BPER, stood at EUR433 million compared to EUR407 million on a like-for-like basis as of March 31, 2025, representing a 6.2% growth.
BPER Banca fell 3.7% to EUR12.21 per share. UBS initiated a review of the stock, cutting its recommendation to 'neutral' from 'buy' and reducing the target price to EUR12.50 from EUR13.50, following the stock's strong outperformance over the last twelve months.
Analysts Adele Palama and Ignacio Cerezo highlighted that the stock now trades at a premium of nearly 20% compared to European banks, following an outperformance of over 30% relative to Italian peers and approximately 60% in absolute terms.
On the Mid-Cap, Salvatore Ferragamo left more than 18% on the floor following slightly declining quarterly results, with the price around EUR6.61 per share.
Technoprobe soared over 32%. On Thursday, the company announced it closed the first quarter with consolidated revenues of EUR187.0 million, up 19% compared to the same period last year. The company explained in a note that the revenue and Ebitda margin targets previously set for 2027 will be brought forward to 2026 and revised upwards within the current fiscal year, with revenues expected in the range of EUR950 million to EUR1.05 billion and an Ebitda margin between 44% and 46%.
ERG - up 1.4% - announced on Friday that it closed the first quarter of 2026 with an adjusted group net result of EUR61 million, a 24% increase compared to EUR49 million in the first quarter of 2025. The result reflects the recovery of wind conditions in Europe and the contribution from new installed capacity that came online between 2025 and 2026 in the UK, France, and Germany, only partially offset by lower captured prices compared to the first quarter of 2025.
Reply - up 5.1% - announced on Friday that it closed the first quarter with a pre-tax profit of EUR99.8 million, representing over 15% of revenues, up from EUR86.9 million in the first quarter of 2025. Consolidated revenues amounted to EUR645.0 million from EUR607.5 million the previous year.
Interpump Group - bearish with a 9.1% drop - announced on Friday that it closed the first quarter with net profit slightly up at EUR57.5 million from EUR57.0 million in the same period of 2025. Revenues amounted to EUR524.8 million from EUR521.6 million.
The board of MARR - down 3.1% - approved the results for the first quarter of 2026 on Friday, closing with a net loss of EUR6.6 million compared to the loss of EUR2.7 million recorded in the same period of 2025. During the quarter, consolidated revenues stood at EUR426.0 million, up from EUR409.2 million in the first quarter of the previous year.
On the Small-Cap, Datalogic left 9.5% on the floor at EUR4.14 per share. The company approved its first-quarter 2026 results, closing with a net loss of EUR5.7 million, a slight improvement from the EUR5.9 million loss in the same period of 2025. During the period, revenues stood at EUR120.3 million, up 6.7% at current exchange rates and 11% at constant exchange rates compared to the first quarter of 2025.
The board of Eurotech - down 6.2% - approved the consolidated interim management report as of March 31 on Thursday, closing the period with a group net loss of EUR2.6 million, an improvement compared to the loss of EUR500,000 recorded as of March 31, 2025. Revenues stood at EUR10.7 million, up 29% from EUR8.3 million in the same period of 2025.
EuroGroup Laminations - up 0.2% - announced on Thursday that it signed a five-year medium-to-long-term financing agreement for a total amount of up to EUR375 million with a pool of institutions including BNP Paribas Italian Branch, BNL BNP Paribas, Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Crédit Agricole Italia, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Banco BPM, and Deutsche Bank. The transaction aims to rationalize and optimize the group's financial structure, concentrating debt into a single syndicated facility to improve management efficiency, transparency, and financial flexibility.
Landi Renzo had a good session, among the few gainers, rising 6.0% in a rebound following four consecutive bearish sessions.
Among SMEs, Erredue had a strong session, pushing its price up by 8.0%, marking its fourth consecutive session closed with a bullish candle.
Promotica - up 4.6% - announced on Thursday that it closed 2025 with a consolidated net profit of EUR3.9 million, a 147% increase compared to EUR1.6 million in 2024. Pre-tax profit rose to EUR6.7 million from EUR2.5 million.
Renovalo - flat at EUR0.51 - announced on Friday that, as of March 31, the value of already contracted orders amounted to over EUR40 million. Of this amount, public sector orders represent 50% of the total, 'in line with the strategic guidelines defined by management,' according to the company note.
VNE - up 1.6% - announced on Friday that it recorded consolidated orders of EUR4.4 million in the first quarter, a 13% increase from EUR3.9 million in the same period of 2025. Lorenzo Verona, Chairman and CEO of VNE, stated that the company is confident 'in being able to confirm growth expectations for the current year as well, particularly thanks to the internationalization path undertaken.'
Powersoft, however, shed 4.2% after two bullish sessions, with the price around EUR18.50 per share.
In the US, on Friday night, the Dow shed 1.1%, the S&P lost 1.2%, while the Nasdaq marked a 1.5% decline.
Among Asian markets, the Nikkei is down 0.5%, the Hang Seng is in the red by 1.6%, and the Shanghai Composite is down 0.5%.
On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1620 from USD1.1628 on Friday evening, while the pound is trading at USD1.3321 from USD1.3338 yesterday.
Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD111.2 per barrel from USD108.84 per barrel on Friday evening, while gold is worth USD4,548.84 per ounce from USD4,552.65 per ounce at yesterday's close.
On Monday's economic calendar, at 1000 CEST, trade balance data will be released from Italy.
In the afternoon, a Treasury bill auction for three and six-month maturities is scheduled in the US.
On the corporate calendar, results are expected from Green Oleo, EuroGroup Laminations, and Omer.
By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter
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