(Alliance News) - On Monday, major European markets continued trading in negative territory, weighed down by geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East, where the conflict between Iran and the USA has spread throughout the region.
Due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, commodity prices are seeing substantial increases, with gold just below the USD5,400 per ounce threshold and Brent crude up 8% in the last 24 hours.
On the macroeconomic front, Eurozone manufacturing has returned to expansion for the first time since August, with the PMI rising to 50.8, a 44-month high, driven by a strong recovery in new orders but accompanied by mounting price pressures.
Manufacturing in Italy is also growing again after three months of declining activity, climbing to 50.6 points in February from 48.1 in January, beating market estimates of 49.0 points.
The Mib trimmed losses, falling 1.7% to 46,406.58, the Mid-Cap dropped 1.7% to 58,936.63, the Small-Cap slipped 1.2% to 36,081.88, and Italy Growth declined 1.3% to 8,619.25 points.
Other markets were also negative: the CAC 40 down 1.7%, the DAX 40 off 1.8%, and the FTSE 100 losing 0.9%.
In Milan, war operations boosted Leonardo’s stock, which rose 4.2% to EUR59.14 per share, topping the index.
Fincantieri was also among the few gainers of the day, up 3.5% to EUR14.94 per share.
Eni also rose 2.4%, making it the most traded stock by turnover, with volumes of EUR214.7 million, and its shares hit a 52-week high at EUR20.77 each.
Tenaris gained 0.4% while Stellantis closed the list with a 4.6% drop.
Italgas – up 1.6% – sold assets to Plures, Estra, and Centria for around EUR109 million.
On the banking M&A front, MPS and Mediobanca were negative, down 2.8% and 3.0% respectively, weighed down by uncertainty over the "paper for paper" share swap, details of which will be released only on March 10, and synergy estimates of EUR700 million deemed too cautious compared to speculative expectations of EUR1.0 billion.
On the Mid-Cap, Alerion Clean Power – down 1.9% – has just started work on two new photovoltaic plants in Grottole, Puglia, and Sant'Agata, Matera. The 20-megawatt project is backed by EUR13 million in financing granted by the BCC Iccrea group.
Fiera Milano, down 1.8%, has mutually agreed to end its employment relationship with deputy general manager Roberto Foresti. Foresti leaves the company with immediate effect and will receive a severance package of EUR521,648.88.
BFF Bank sold off by 5.4% while Avio, buoyed by the positive defense sector trend, gained 2.7% to EUR36.30 per share. D'Amico also performed well, up 2.4%.
On the Small-Cap, Tessellis decided to accept the binding offer received from Canarbino for the lease of the B2C business unit of Tiscali Italia, paving the way for its subsequent sale. The company has also initiated a negotiated crisis resolution procedure. The stock fell 5.8%.
IGD dropped 4.2% after Intermonte confirmed its 'outperform' rating and, following earnings results, raised its target price to EUR5.00 from EUR4.10, reflecting a 15% growth margin over the price as of November 2025.
Sogefi, which closed 2025 with revenues of EUR948.8 million compared to EUR1.02 billion the previous year and will not pay dividends, plummeted 15% to EUR2.605 per share after hitting negative peaks of 41%.
Among the gainers were Gas Plus, up 4.3% to EUR6.38, and Banca Sistema, up 3.3% after Banca CF+'s takeover bid reached 71% of the capital.
Among SMEs, Xenia Hotellerie Solution – up 2.6% – signed a binding agreement to acquire the business segment related to the four-star resort "Alla Corte delle Terme" in Viterbo, as well as the lease of the associated property. The company plans to invest around EUR200,000 in the resort, while the lease fee will gradually increase to around EUR100,000 per year.
Reti – down 4.3% – approved its 2025 results, closing with a net profit of EUR1.4 million, up 14% from 2024.
The board proposed a gross ordinary dividend of EUR0.060 per share, with a payout ratio of 50.7% and a dividend yield of 3.7%, slightly up from last year’s EUR0.058.
GM Leather, which successfully completed a capital increase for 2.8 million shares at a price of EUR2.1 million, was down 2.7%.
4AIM Sicaf – with no trades – approved the 2025 financial statements, halving its losses and posting a net loss of EUR4.0 million compared to a net loss of EUR8.2 million as of December 31, 2024.
In New York, the Dow Jones closed Friday down 1.1% at 48,977.92, the Nasdaq lost 0.9% to 22,668.21, and the S&P 500 finished down 0.4% at 6,878.88.
On the currency front, the euro was trading at USD1.1740 from USD1.1814 at Friday’s European equity close, while the pound was at USD1.3396 from USD1.3449.
Among commodities, Brent was trading at USD78.40 per barrel from USD72.69 per barrel Friday evening, while gold was valued at USD5,391.91 per ounce from USD5,255.19 per ounce.
Among Monday’s main economic calendar events, at 1445 CET the US manufacturing PMIs will be released, followed at 1500 CET by the ISM index.
By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News reporter
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