Milan Stock Exchange Opens Slightly Higher, Banks Lead the Way

(Alliance News) - The Milan Stock Exchange opened higher on Tuesday, marking the final trading session of the year for the Italian bourse.

On a day lacking significant macroeconomic or corporate news, the FTSE Mib opened up 0.4% at 44,631.72.

Among the smaller indices, the FTSE Mid-Cap is slightly up at 58,701.51, the Small-Cap slips 0.1% to 36,615.70, and the Italia Growth index gains 0.2% to 36,615.70.

Across Europe, London's FTSE 100 rises 0.1% to 9,876.04, Paris' CAC 40 dips 0.1% to 8,103.87, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is flat at 24,351.44.

On the main board of Borsa Italiana, banks are leading the gains shortly after the opening bell.

Monte dei Paschi is up 1.8%, UniCredit gains 1.5%, Mediobanca rises 1.2%, and Banca Popolare di Sondrio posts a 1.2% increase.

The European Central Bank's supervisory arm is set to approve the new bylaws of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which were amended in a swift board meeting on December 24 to remove the "principle of residuality," a clause challenged by Frankfurt.

As reported by La Repubblica on Tuesday, the green light will allow the bank to soon call an extraordinary shareholders' meeting, targeted for late January or early February, ahead of a board renewal scheduled for April.

The principle of residuality called for the automatic removal of the outgoing board's list if a majority list was submitted by a significant shareholder. Initially adopted by MPS, this would have allowed Delfin and Caltagirone to intervene until the last moment, but the ECB pushed for a more open competition among all lists.

The Piazza Gae Aulenti-based institution, meanwhile, continued its buyback program, acquiring over EUR50 million of its own shares last week, while PopSondrio signed an agreement with Nexi – up 0.2% – for the sale of its merchant acquiring business.

As part of the deal, PopSondrio will also sell its minority stake in Nexi Payments to Nexi.

At the bottom of the main list, Campari and Moncler are both down 0.8%, with trading volumes below the basket's average.

On the Mid-Cap, MAIRE gains 0.8% after its subsidiaries in the Integrated E&C Solutions business unit were awarded additional work related to previously announced orders and new contracts, totaling approximately EUR700 million.

Of this, EUR430 million relates to additional work mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, and EUR270 million to new awards for renewable energy projects in the Middle East, as well as contract extensions for energy efficiency projects in Italy.

Webuild leads the gains with a 1.7% rise the day after it won, as part of a consortium, a contract worth about EUR660 million for the construction of the first section of Lot 1 of Naples' new Metro Line 10.

The project is part of a broader infrastructure plan, with total investments estimated at over EUR3.1 billion, aimed at improving mobility in the northeastern area of the city.

In line with the downward trend in luxury stocks, Salvatore Ferragamo closes the list down 1.4%, followed by Avio, down 0.9%.

The latter has awarded a EUR3 million contract to Edil San Felice – up 0.8% on Italia Growth – for construction and plant engineering work at a facility located at Avio's Colleferro site in Rome.

The contract covers a "turnkey" intervention, including the executive design and permitting phase as well as the subsequent execution of works, with completion scheduled for the first quarter of 2027. With this project, Edil San Felice brings its total 2025 order book to over EUR100 million.

On the Small-Cap, Aeffe climbs 9.3%, extending the double-digit gain recorded yesterday.

OPS eCom and OPS Italia are currently unchanged. The former has approved a capital increase of up to EUR3 million, excluding pre-emptive rights, reserved for creditors and to be subscribed by June 30, 2026 through debt offsetting.

The shareholders' meeting also authorized the board of directors to increase capital by up to an additional EUR6 million, again excluding pre-emptive rights, to be executed in one or more tranches within 12 months and reserved for creditors.

The latter, meanwhile, has sold all its holdings in EEMS CHINA and EEMS Renewables for the symbolic value of EUR1 per company.

On Borsa Italiana's alternative capital market, few stocks have seen trading so far, but among those that have changed hands, Farmacosmo stands out, up 11% at the start.

The SME has signed a contract to sell 50% of Baubau to Pet Being. Baubau's valuation was set at EUR10 million, and the consideration for the purchase of 55% of the capital amounts to EUR4.4 million, of which EUR4 million goes to Farmacosmo, plus an earn-out of up to EUR1.1 million tied to achieving 2026 Ebitda targets, in addition to a positive net cash position.

With these two transactions, the Farmacosmo group records a positive cash flow totaling approximately EUR6.5 million, with an additional EUR1 million expected in 2027.

Vinext, down 7.3%, and Eprcomunicazione, down 10%, close the list in negative territory.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Tuesday down 0.4% at 50,339.48, the Shanghai Composite ended slightly lower at 3,965.12, and the Hang Seng gained 0.9% to 25,854.60.

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 trades at USD1.1769 from USD1.1754 in the previous session, while the pound is at USD1.3509 from USD1.3489 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD61.88 per barrel from USD61.95 per barrel at yesterday's close, while gold is valued at USD4,372.51 an ounce from USD4,335.25 an ounce yesterday.

On Tuesday's economic calendar, at 1200 CET, the Eurozone's total asset reserves will be released.

At 1500 CET, in the US, attention turns to housing price data, and at 2000 CET, the eagerly awaited minutes of the last FOMC meeting will be published.

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

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.