Europeans down slightly; Brent crude oil price USD80

(Alliance News) - On Tuesday morning, European stock markets are headed for a slightly down opening, just below the parity line, as investors choose caution in anticipation of macroeconomic data to be released later in the week that may give clues on upcoming monetary policy moves. These include the preliminary inflation reading for the Eurozone and Germany, PCE inflation for the U.S. and PMIs for China.

"Today's U.S. consumer confidence data for November could also be instructive, given the strength of the consumer spending numbers we saw over the Thanksgiving weekend," notes Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets.

Today will also be the turn of Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, along with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, "who will be tasked with pushing the 'higher for longer' narrative that the central bank will want to maintain," Hewson adds.

The FTSE Mib, therefore, is expected to fall 7.5 points, just below par, after closing Monday down 0.3 percent to 29,342.29.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is expected to open down 6.2 points, also in fractional red, Paris' CAC 40 is expected to be down 8.5 points or 0.1 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is down 31.2 points or 0.2 percent.

Among Italy's smaller lists on Monday evening, the Mid-Cap gave up 0.4 percent to 41,622.56, the Small-Cap lost little to 25,984.22, and Italy Growth fell 0.2 percent to 7,864.06.

On the main list of Piazza Affari, Leonardo did worst of all, complicit in a 3.5 percent decline that placed it at the bottom of the list.

Tenaris -- down 0.7 percent -- announced Saturday that it had purchased nearly 2.0 million of its own shares between Nov. 20 and Nov. 24. The shares were purchased at an average price of EUR15.4806 for a total value of EUR30.6 million.

Saipem - down 1.0 percent - announced Monday the final results of the repurchase offer promoted by Saipem Finance aimed at holders of the EUR500.0 million bond, with a coupon of 2.625 percent and maturing on January 7, 2025. The maturity date of the offer - which began on Nov. 20 - was set at 1700 CET on Nov. 24, and a total amount of EUR120.1 million of bonds was submitted during the period.

Increased target price, by Jefferies, on Intesa Sanpaolo. For the Turin-based bank, the new target price rises to EUR3.90 from EUR3.70. The stock closed slightly higher.

Banco BPM lost 0.9 percent after announcing Monday the final results of the cash repurchase offer for its EUR300.0 million perpetual bond.

When the offer expired, the total nominal amount of existing securities validly offered for repurchase amounted to EUR223.3 million, representing approximately 74 percent of the total nominal amount of existing securities outstanding.

The repurchase of existing securities was carried out simultaneously with the issuance of a new perpetual bond with a total nominal amount of EUR300.0 million.

Iveco Group--down 1.3 percent--reported Monday that the European Investment Bank has granted financing of up to EUR500 million to contribute to electrification, efficiency and safety in the transport sector through investment in research, development and innovation.

In detail, the EUR450 million loan signed in Turin represents the first tranche of the total EUR500 million approved by the EIB's board of directors. The loan, with an eight-year amortization profile, "will be fully drawn down in the short term," the company note says.

The investments will be made, by the end of 2025, mainly in Italy, but also in Germany, France, Spain, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.

On the Mid-Cap, Tamburi Investment Partners gave up 1.5 percent after buying 15,940 ordinary shares between Nov. 20 and Nov. 24 at a weighted average price of EUR8.3552 for a total consideration of EUR133,182.45. The company holds 18.8 million treasury shares equal to more than 10 percent of the share capital.

Well for Acea, up 3.1% to EUR12.78 per share, closing toward the eighth session in a row on the bullish side.

Red for Antares Vision, which marked a minus 2.8% to EUR2.4750 per share after a 0.8% rise on Friday.

On the small-cap side, ePrice slumped 20 percent. The company informed that - in execution of commitments to Negma Group - it has appointed Pedro Palau as Chief Restructuring Officer for a period of 12 months.

Monrif lost 2.1 percent after it announced that it has appointed Luca Ceroni as its new general manager.

Luca Ceroni has been general manager of subsidiary Editoriale Nazionale, the publishing company of "Il Resto del Carlino," "La Nazione" and "Il Giorno," since March 2014.

Banco Di Desio e della Brianza gave up 1.3 percent after the board of directors approved the 2024-2026 "Beyond 2026" business plan, which rests on strategic pillars represented by "the optimization of the commercial bank and the creation of growth opportunities through specialization in the Small Business and POE segment, Wealth Management and Personal Finance."

Specifically, as of 2026, the bank expects a ROE of more than 8 percent, a Cost/Income ratio of about 55 percent, and a CET 1 of more than 15 percent.

It also expects solid revenue generation with 2023-2026 CAGR of net interest and other banking income of about 4.5 percent and gross NPL ratio of less than 4 percent over the plan period, with Wealth Management growth to exceed EUR10 billion in assets under management.

Among SMEs, RedFish LongTerm Capital closed down 5.5 percent after it announced that it had approved the subscription of a par value capital increase in PureLabs, a company active in clinical diagnostics, for a total of EUR4 million, against a total approved capital increase of EUR15 million.

As of today, taking into account the subscriptions already completed by the pre-existing shareholders of PureLabs totaling EUR8.5 million and the additional subscription by RFLTC for EUR4 million, the total capital increase in PureLabs will amount to EUR12.5 million; RFLTC as a result of the above subscription will therefore hold a minority stake of approximately 32 percent.

DHH--down 3.5 percent--reported Friday that in the first nine months of the year it reported adjusted net income of EUR2.5 million, up 32 percent from EUR1.9 million in the same period last year.

As of September 30, consolidated revenues stood at EUR25.6 million from EUR20.7 million, up 24% from the first nine months of 2022, and with recurring revenues accounting for about 95% of total revenues.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed 0.1 percent in the red at 33,410.00, the Hang Seng was down 0.7 percent at 17,407.00, and the Shanghai Composite finished up 0.2 percent at 3,038.55.

In New York, the Dow closed down 0.2 percent to 35,333.47, the Nasdaq fell 0.1 percent to 14,241.02 and the S&P 500 finished in the red 0.2 percent to 4,550.43.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0947 against USD1.0937 recorded at Monday's European stock close, while the pound was worth USD1.2625 from USD1.2610 on Monday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD80.17 per barrel from USD80.68 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,016.62 an ounce from USD2,012.80 an ounce on Monday evening.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar features Italy's producer price index at 0900 CET and Eurozone money supply and private lending data at 1000 CET.

In the U.S., eye points on house price data, at 1500 CET, and consumer confidence, due out at 1600 CET.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, no special events are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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