Indexes Expected to Open Little Changed

(Alliance News) - Milan's Piazza Affari is set for a slight uptick ahead of the final trading session of the year, with futures pointing to a positive opening.

The FTSE Mib is indicated up by 40 points after closing Monday down 0.4% at 44,436.01.

London's FTSE 100 is seen up 12.0 points or 0.1%, Paris's CAC 40 is expected down 12.0 points or 0.2%, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is seen flat.

Last night in Milan, the Mid-Cap closed up 0.3% at 58,690.21, the Small-Cap rose 0.7% to 36,645.22, and the Italy Growth index gained 0.2% to 8,540.19.

At Piazza Affari, Banca Popolare di Sondrio – down 0.6% – announced it had signed a deal with Nexi – up 1.7% – for the sale of its merchant acquiring business unit.

According to the press release, the deal also includes the sale to Nexi of the minority stake currently held by BPSO in Nexi Payments.

Azimut Holding has extended its binding exclusivity agreement with FSI SGR Spa regarding the TNB project. The agreement, originally set to expire on 28 December 2025, has been extended to 20 June 2026, with the possibility of a further extension until 20 December 2026. The stock closed down 0.7%.

DiaSorin has received both 510(k) clearance and a CLIA waiver from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its first test, the FLU A/B, RSV & COVID-19 panel, to be used on the Liaison NES platform. The stock ended at the top of the index with a 3.0% gain at EUR68.62.

Prysmian – down 0.2% – and Fincantieri – down 1.7% – have signed an agreement to acquire Xtera Topco Limited, a company based in the UK and USA and a leader in turnkey submarine telecommunications systems, allowing Prysmian to become a competitive global player in the sector.

Intesa Sanpaolo, down 0.6%, announced that from 1 January 2026, the responsibility for the Chief Compliance Officer area will be assigned to Francesca Nieddu, while Mauro Senati will take charge of the Chief Risk Officer area.

Additionally, the bank announced it has strengthened its commitment to research and technology transfer by supporting Novac, a Modena-based startup innovating the energy storage market.

Leonardo closed at the bottom of the list with a 2.0% loss at EUR48.48 per share, alongside Telecom Italia, which fell 2.2% to EUR0.5056.

On the Mid-Cap, MAIRE – down 0.4% – announced that NextChem has signed a binding agreement to acquire the entire share capital of the Ballestra group, one of the world's leading operators in licensing, design, and engineering of processing plants, as well as in the supply of proprietary technologies and equipment for the chemical industry.

The agreement sets an enterprise value of EUR108.3 million.

Mondadori, up 1.0%, reported that Arnoldo Mondadori Editore has signed a contract to acquire 59% of Edilportale.com – an internationally active company in the development of content, services, and platforms for the architecture, design, and construction markets – for a total of EUR31.2 million.

d'Amico International Shipping, up 0.9%, has signed a construction contract with Guangzhou Shipyard International Company, a Chinese company, for the purchase of two new "Medium Range 1" – MR1 – tankers of 40,000 deadweight tons each, at a price of USD43.2 million per vessel.

CIR announced that between 22 and 23 December, it bought back 175,000 of its own ordinary shares at an average price of EUR0.7053 each, for a total of EUR123,427.50. The stock fell 0.7%.

Webuild closed the list with losses of 3.9% at EUR3.352 per share, while Sesa posted a strong performance with a 3.6% gain, and MFE rose 3.2% and 3.5% for class A and class B shares, respectively.

On the Small-Cap, OPS eCom posted a net loss of EUR1.231 million in the six months, a slight increase from the loss of EUR1.156 million in the first half of 2024. The stock closed down 4.2%.

TXT e-solutions, down 2.6%, has signed an Asset Purchase Agreement to acquire the SmartRoutes division of Nexteon Technologies Inc, thus strengthening its presence in the USA through its subsidiary PACE America.

Mare Group and Borgosesia – down 1.4% – announced Monday the launch of EasyGo, a search fund dedicated to acquiring and reviving Italian SMEs with solid industrial foundations, particularly those undergoing transitional phases such as generational change.

Aeffe traded up by double digits, rising 17% to EUR0.292 per share. Fidia brought up the rear of the index, down 5.5% at EUR0.1472 per share.

Among SMEs, Circle announced it has signed a new contract with a leading player in the Mediterranean intermodal logistics sector, worth approximately EUR260,000, for the supply of Milos ecosystem solutions. The stock closed up 2.0%.

Health Italia has appointed a new board of directors composed of seven members, with Stefano Pellegrino chosen as chairman. The other board members are: Giovanni Giuliani, Mario Fera, Roberto Ippolito, Giorgio Ortolani, Matteo Almini, and Daniele Sotgiu. The stock ended flat at EUR296.0 per share.

For Mare Group – up 0.5% – the delisting of Eles – up 7.5% – is not among the goals of the strategic plan. In fact, the company explained in a statement, "the presence of both companies on Euronext Growth Milan represents a potential value."

Leone Film Group, up 0.7%, has completed the spin-off of its business unit and the establishment of LV Legacy Media.

In Asia, the Nikkei is down 0.4% at 50,339.48, the Shanghai Composite is slightly lower at 3,965.12, and the Hang Seng is up 0.9% at 25,875.29.

In New York, at Monday's close, the Dow fell 0.5% to 48,461.93, the Nasdaq lost 0.5% to 23,474.35, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% to 6,905.74.

On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1773 from USD1.1754 in the previous session, while the pound is trading at USD1.3510 from USD1.3489 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD61.84 per barrel from USD61.95 at yesterday's close, while gold is valued at USD4,365.73 an ounce from USD4,335.25 an ounce yesterday.

On Tuesday's economic calendar, at 0900 CET, focus will be on the Spanish economy with the consumer price index and retail sales, while at 1200 CET, the Eurozone's total asset reserves will be released.

At 1500 CET, in the USA, attention will turn to housing price data, and at 2000 CET, the much-awaited minutes from the latest FOMC meeting will be published.

No significant announcements are expected from Piazza Affari-listed companies.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

Comments and questions to [e-mail]

Copyright 2025 Alliance News IS Italian Service Ltd. All rights reserved.