Rebounds expected in Europe, focus on US reports

(Alliance News) - The Italian stock market is expected to rise sharply after recent weakness, with markets awaiting new macro data from the US after more than a month of forced shutdown.

The FTSE Mib is up 383.3 points or 0.9% after falling 0.4% to 42,651.49 at Wednesday's close.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is expected to rise 53.4 points or 0.6%, Paris' CAC 40 is expected to rise 51.7 points or 0.7%, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to rise 174.2 points or 0.8%.

Last night in Milan, the Mid-Cap gained 0.8% to 57,119.05, the Small-Cap closed flat at 34,757.41, and the Italia Growth closed up 0.1% at 8,347.53.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, Credit Agricole - which currently owns 20% of the shares - says it is ready to consider a merger with Banco BPM, which closed down 0.3%. The French bank is waiting for any moves from Piazza Meda, while remaining a "patient" and long-term shareholder.

DiaSorin - up 1.1% - and Qiagen launched the new Liaison QuantiFeron-Tb Gold Plus II test with CE marking, which increases hourly analysis capacity by 75% and reduces response times for tuberculosis diagnosis by 25%.

Unipol, which has opened a new institutional representative office in Brussels to promote dialogue between institutions, gained 0.1%.

It was a positive day for Prysmian, which topped the basket with a 4.9% surge to EUR85.02 per share, and for Tenaris, up 2.1% to EUR17.485 per share.

Enel was among the worst performers of the day, with sales down 3.0%.

Leonardo, down 4.9%, announced on Wednesday, in collaboration with EDGE Group, the definition of the general principles for the establishment of a new joint venture in the United Arab Emirates, scheduled for 2026. Target sectors: sensor technology, systems integration, and defense platforms.

Lottomatica and Eni closed up 0.9% and down 0.7%, respectively.

Terna - down 0.5% - announced that in October, Italy's electricity demand was 25.5 billion kWh, up 0.2% compared to October 2024, with the same number of working days and average temperatures 2 degrees Celsius lower.

On the Mid-Cap, Tamburi, fresh from a buyback of around EUR 1.0 million, gained 6.2% to become the best performer. Lohalma, closely linked to the CEO of TIP, purchased shares in the company for over EUR 91,000.

As announced by the ECB, Credem - up 0.3% - remains the most solid bank in Italy, among the top three in Europe and second among European commercial banks, consolidating a record that has lasted for years.

d'Amico International Shipping announced that FIPA, owned by Cesare d'Amico, sold 60,000 ordinary shares in the company at an average price of around EUR5.31 per share, for a total value of around EUR320,000. The stock gained 2.9%.

Safilo Group, which bought back 275,000 of its own shares for EUR 505,000, closed down 0.1%.

On the Small-Cap market, Alantra confirmed its view on Eurotech - down 0.9% at the end of trading - after its quarterly results. Analysts believe that the strengthening of order intake, cost discipline, and a stable financial position are paving the way for a more solid year-end, while the market awaits the new strategic plan, which is seen as the main catalyst for a possible re-rating of the stock.

EPH resumed its double-digit rise with purchases of 32% at EUR0.55 per share, and since the board of directors gave the go-ahead to RONA's binding offer, the stock has gained 240% in 30 days.

Fidia closed at the bottom with a 12% decline to EUR0.1599 per share.

Banca Sistema, up 1.2%, received a payment of EUR 103 million from the municipality that was the final recipient of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights and has since emerged from bankruptcy.

The board of EuroGroup Laminations - down 2.6% - approved the accounts for the first nine months, which closed with a net profit of EUR 2.6 million, a sharp slowdown compared to the EUR 21.6 million recorded in 2024 in the same period. However, the Chinese segment continues to grow steadily.

Among SMEs, Mare Group, up 1.0%, announced that the transfer of 100% of the capital of Rack Peruzzi Srl to the company has become effective.

Based on the terms of the agreement and the 2024 results confirmed by due diligence – enterprise value of approximately EUR 2.0 million, adjusted EBITDA of EUR 146,000, and net financial position of EUR 370,000 –, the purchase price was set at EUR 250,000.

TMP Group has launched a training project commissioned by Learn International and aimed at students at the University of Florida, focusing on communication, media, and sports marketing. The stock closed flat at EUR6.50.

ICF Group, which gained 4.1%, closed the first nine months of the year with revenues of EUR 54.1 million, down from EUR 57.6 million at September 30, 2024.

Health Italia - flat at EUR 287.00 - announced that it had obtained a new ESGe rating from Cerved Rating Agency, which shows a significant improvement over the previous year. The ESGe rating rose from A to AA, with an overall score of 75.9, up 2.5 points from the 2024 rating.

Directa SIM - which fell 0.7% - is holding up well on the stock market, after the first plea bargain requests for the investigation into alleged banking malpractice that would have damaged, first and foremost, the Bank of Italy's supervision of certain institutions in difficulty, including Carige and Popolare Bari.

In Asia, the Nikkei is up 2.7% to 49,823.94, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.4% to 3,929.88, and the Hang Seng is down 0.4% to 25,728.45.

In New York, at Wednesday's close, the Dow gained 0.1% to 46,138.77, the Nasdaq rose 0.6% to 22,564.23, and the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 6,642.16.

On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD 1.1520 from USD 1.1536 at Wednesday's stock market close, while the pound is trading at USD 1.3062 from USD 1.3076 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude traded at USD 63.64 per barrel, up from USD 63.35 per barrel at Wednesday's close, while gold was worth USD 4,062.66 per ounce, down from USD 4,075.54 per ounce on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday's economic calendar, data on construction output in the Eurozone is expected at 1100 CET.

Spanish consumer confidence will be published at 1300 CET, while in the afternoon, the focus will be on US data on unemployment, construction, exports, and wages.

Eurozone consumer confidence will be released at 4:00 p.m. CET.

On the Italian stock market, Piquadro, Laboratorio Farmaceutico Erfo, and iVision Tech will release their results.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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