(Alliance News) - European equity futures signal a slightly lower opening for Thursday's session, despite the Federal Reserve implementing a rate cut and delivering a less hawkish outlook than the market had priced in. Additionally, the Fed announced it will proceed with monthly purchases of around USD45 billion in short-term Treasury bills, with maturities of up to three years.
Among other central banks, the Swiss National Bank is expected to keep its policy rate unchanged at 0%, while the ECB is also widely anticipated to hold rates steady throughout 2026, as inflation and growth trends remain broadly in line with projections.
The Mib - which closed down 0.3% at 43,465.34 yesterday - is currently showing a decline of 62.50 points.
Paris's CAC 40 is just above parity, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is down 35.90 points, while London's FTSE 100 is slipping by 10.00 points.
Among the secondary indices, the Mid-Cap fell by 0.6% to 58,326.21 last night, the Small-Cap gained 0.1% to 36,131.82, and Italy Growth lost 0.3% to 8,422.72 points.
On Piazza Affari, Lottomatica shares took the lead yesterday evening, rising 2.5% to EUR21.78 per share.
The board of directors of Monte dei Paschi - down 0.5% - will meet on December 18 for the last regular session of the year, a chance to review the twenty ongoing projects in the integration of business with Mediobanca, which rose 0.3%.
Meanwhile, UniCredit continues its rapid exit from Moscow. The group led by Andrea Orcel reportedly sold the entire long-term portfolio of its subsidiary UniCredit-Leasing to Russia's Pr-Leasing, amounting to contracts worth RUB3 billion, equivalent to EUR34 million. The stock gained 1.6%.
Stellantis - up 0.7% - is pivoting towards autonomous driving with a new agreement, while facing industrial challenges related to the Stla Small platform for compact cars, originally designed by PSA as an electric base and frozen for six months in 2024 under Carlos Tavares's management.
Telecom Italia, which slipped 0.4%, announced the resignation of independent director Umberto Paolucci, who will leave the company's board effective January 1, 2026, for professional reasons.
Ferrari, which set a new 52-week low at EUR313.50 per share, closed down 4.4%, marking it as the day's worst performer.
On the Mid-Cap, Credito Emiliano, up 0.1%, announced that, in execution of relevant resolutions, the partial demerger act of Euromobiliare Advisory SIM in favor of Credito Emiliano and Euromobiliare Asset Management SGR has been executed, effective January 1, 2026.
Banca Ifis has signed the agreement to acquire the 50% stake held by illimity Bank in Hype, with the transfer in favor of Banca Sella.
The deal involves a consideration of EUR85 million and allows Banca Ifis to achieve an estimated capital benefit of about 55 basis points on the CET1 ratio. The stock saw sales of 2.1%.
Intercos surged 4.0%, while BFF Bank dropped 9.5% after Standard Ethics, an independent sustainability rating agency, upgraded the bank's outlook from 'stable' to 'positive', confirming its corporate Standard Ethics Rating at 'EE-'.
On the Small-Cap, Fidia - flat at EUR0.1140 per share - announced that Global Growth Holding Limited requested the conversion of 10 bonds from the convertible bond loan with warrants reserved for subscription by GGHL. The conversion price was EUR0.10 per share, resulting in the issuance of a total of 1.0 million Fidia shares to GGHL. Fidia's share capital will increase by EUR100,000 to EUR9.2 million, with the total number of shares rising to 23.8 million.
BF announced Tuesday that Riccardo Bovino, non-executive director and member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, has resigned from his position effective December 6, due to "new personal commitments."
Eurotech saw strong buying, up 4.2%, while Netweek suffered the steepest drop, falling 14%.
Among SMEs, Più Medical signed a binding term-sheet with the IPO Club 2 fund - managed by Azimut Investments S.A. with Electa Ventures as partner and strategic advisor - for a P.I.P.E. investment supporting the company's already-approved capital increase. The fund will invest a total of EUR5 million, while the founding shareholders will contribute a total of 700,000 ordinary Più Medical shares. The stock gained 1.2%.
Maps, down 0.3%, announced that its subsidiary Maps Healthcare has won the renewal of its agreement with the Emilia-Romagna Region for assistance, maintenance, and professional support for the applications used by the area's healthcare companies.
The new three-year agreement has a maximum value of around EUR11.8 million.
Mare Engineering Group - down 0.3% - has requested that Eles - down 0.4% - convene a shareholders' meeting to expand the board from six to nine members, introducing three independent directors to strengthen transparency in management. The company is currently the subject of two competing takeover bids.
Tenax International saw strong buying, up 11% to EUR1.517 per share. At the bottom of the list, Estrima posted a double-digit loss of 14%.
In New York, during the European evening, the Dow Jones gained 1.1%, the Nasdaq advanced 0.3%, and the S&P 500 rose 0.7%.
In Asia, the Nikkei fell 0.9%, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.7%, and the Hang Seng slipped 0.1%.
On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1692 from USD1.1648 at Wednesday's European close, while the pound is at USD1.3370 from USD1.3333 last night.
Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD61.87 per barrel from USD61.48 at yesterday's close, while gold is at USD4,212.45 an ounce from USD4,201.38 an ounce last night.
On Thursday's economic calendar, at 1000 CET, Italian unemployment data will be released.
At 1050 CET, Bank of England Governor Bailey is scheduled to speak, and at 1130 CET, there is a BPT auction with a three-year maturity.
At 1200 CET, the Italian Thomson Reuters IPSOS index is due, and at 1300 CET, the OPEC monthly report will be released.
At 2230 CET, the Federal Reserve's balance sheet is expected.
On Piazza Affari, results are expected from Abitare In.
By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News Reporter
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