Mib at 45,000 points; Buzzi and Azimut down sharply

(Alliance News) - At the opening on Thursday, the main European indices are moving in contrasting directions, with the Milan Stock Exchange advancing well in the 45,000-point area after President Donald Trump signed a bill ending the longest government shutdown in US history, while London is the worst performing stock exchange on the Old Continent after the release of several negative macroeconomic indicators.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.5% to 45,033.89, the Mid-Cap is up 0.6% to 58,330.17, the Small-Cap is up 0.3% to 35,997.17, while the Italy Growth is down 0.1% to 8,493.45.

The FTSE 100 in London is down 0.3%, the CAC 40 in Paris is up 0.8%, and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt is up 0.1%.

Back in Milan, on the Piazza Affari's highest capitalization index, Buzzi took the lead at the opening, up 2.4%.

On Wednesday, Hera's board of directors approved the results for the first nine months of 2025, which closed with net profit up 4% to EUR 324.6 million compared to EUR 312.1 million in 2024, while consolidated revenues grew to EUR 9.37 billion, an increase of over EUR 894 million, driven by higher energy commodity prices and gas and electricity trading volumes. The stock rose 1.8%.

FinecoBank shares performed well, up 1.6%, as did Monte Paschi di Siena, up 1.5%.

Assicurazioni Generali, up 1.7%, reported that it closed the first nine months with consolidated operating income of EUR 5.94 billion, up 10% from EUR 5.40 billion at September 30, 2024. The Life operating result stood at EUR 3.09 billion, up from EUR 3.04 billion in the first nine months of 2024, while the Non-Life operating result stood at EUR 2.73 billion, up from EUR 2.21 billion.

Poste Italiane - up 1.2% - reported closing the first nine months of 2025 with a net profit of EUR 1.77 billion, up 11% from EUR 1.60 billion in the same period of 2024. Revenues for the nine months rose to EUR 9.64 billion from EUR 9.23 billion, up 4.5%.

On the banking front, Andrea Orcel says "the BPM chapter is closed," but UniCredit rejects the idea that it is such a threat as to justify Golden Power, as Il Corriere della Sera writes on Thursday. The CEO explains that the appeal to the Council of State is only to obtain clarity after the operation was halted, while a European procedure also remains open on the matter.

The farewell to BPM does not curb M&A ambitions: Orcel cites the investment in Commerzbank, now at 26%, which yields more than a buyback and on which UniCredit remains ready to move if Berlin and the German bank open to dialogue, the newspaper continues.

The Piazza Gae Aulenti stock is up 0.3%, while BPM is down 0.9%.

BPER Banca is up 0.2% to EUR10.835 per share. Jefferies has raised its target price on the stock to EUR12.50 from the previous EUR10.00 with a 'buy' recommendation.

Among the few bearish stocks, Ferrari is down 1.1%, Recordati is down 0.4%, and Campari is down 0.3%.

At the bottom of the main index at the start of trading is Azimut, down sharply by 11%, after, at the request of Consob, it released clarifications on the results of the Bank of Italy's investigations into its subsidiary Azimut Capital Management SGR, which highlight "significant governance and organizational deficiencies." The Bank of Italy will evaluate the remedial plan and points out that overcoming the critical issues does not guarantee the outcome of the TNB project.

On the Mid-Cap, Technoprobe is up 5.1%.

Fincantieri closed the first nine months with revenues up 21% to EUR 6.73 billion compared to EUR 5.58 billion in the same period of 2024. The stock is up 3.8%.

The Tinexta board approved the accounts for the first nine months, which closed with a net loss of EUR 16.5 million from continuing operations, compared to a loss of EUR 9.3 million in the same period of 2024. The stock is up 0.1%.

doValue - up 1.0% - announced its nine-month results, reporting adjusted net income of EUR 11.6 million compared to EUR 4.8 million in the January-September 2024 period, an increase of 140%.

MAIRE performed well, advancing 1.9% to EUR13.14. Jefferies raised its target price on the stock to EUR15.50 from EUR14.50 previously with a 'buy' recommendation.

At the bottom of the secondary market was De' Longhi, down 1.9%, which reported a net profit of EUR 187.6 million, up 8.0% compared to EUR 173.8 million recorded from January to September 2024.

On the Small-Cap index, BasicNet was up 3.6% after announcing on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement to acquire the Woolrich brand from investor L-Gam, a fund backed by the Royal Family of Liechtenstein and international investors.

Borgosesia - not affected by trading - announced on Thursday that the Bank of Italy had granted authorization for its subsidiary Borgosesia Alternative to acquire the entire share capital of Oneosix, a financial intermediary based in Verona.

Gabetti Property Solutions - up 1.8% - announced on Wednesday that it had approved its consolidated figures as of September 30, reporting group operating revenues of EUR 82.8 million, up 4.0% from EUR 79.5 million in the same period of the previous year.

Geox - down 0.6% - announced on Wednesday that it had closed the first nine months with revenues of EUR 492.8 million, down 6.2% from EUR 525.5 million as of September 30, 2024.

Zest - up 2.1% - announced that it closed the first nine months of the year with revenues and income of EUR 6.6 million, down 15% from EUR 7.8 million as of September 30, 2024.

At the bottom of the list, Esprinet lost 5.4% on the opening floor.

Among SMEs, eVISO - down 3.1% - announced on Wednesday that it had recorded revenues of EUR 73.2 million in the July-September quarter, down 15% year-on-year, due to the decline in the average price of electricity and gas, which fell 10% to EUR 106 per MWh.

RedFish Listing Partners, down 0.4%, announced on Wednesday that it had approved a capital increase of up to EUR 4 million, including a share premium, to be carried out against payment and in divisible form.

Tenax International - down 1.2% - announced on Wednesday that its turnover for the first nine months amounted to EUR 11.0 million, equal to 51% of its total turnover for 2024 of EUR 21.7 million.

In New York on Wednesday evening, the Dow Jones gained 0.7%, the Nasdaq lost 0.3%, while the S&P 500 closed up 0.1%.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 0.4%, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.7%, while the Hang Seng gained 0.6%.

On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1627 from USD1.1591 at Wednesday's stock market close, while the pound is trading at USD1.3167 from USD1.3130 on Wednesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude traded at USD 62.52 per barrel from USD 62.80 per barrel at Wednesday evening's close, while gold was worth USD 4,231.83 per ounce from USD 4,193.70 per ounce last night.

On Thursday's economic calendar, the ECOFIN meeting is scheduled for 1100 CET, at the same time as the release of Eurozone industrial production figures.

At 1110 CET, all eyes will be on the Italian BTP auctions with maturities of three, seven, and 30 years.

Focus on the US at 1430 CET with unemployment and consumer price data.

On the Italian stock market, nine-month results are expected from Enel, Iren, Terna, Webuild, and other companies.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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