Europeans expected to fall; Brent crude above USD90

(Alliance News) - Major European stock markets are expected to fall Thursday morning, according to IG Futures, in the aftermath of the release of the U.S. ISM Services Index, which returned a more resilient than expected picture of the U.S. economy in August.

In fact, the Eurozone services PMI was disappointing in August, in contrast to the US ISM Services index, which rose to 54.5. Employment, new orders and ISM prices also made significant progress last month, "reinforcing speculation that the Federal Reserve may opt for another rate hike before the end of the year and keep rates at restrictive levels longer," commented Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank.

"The U.S. 2-year yield has exceeded 5 percent, while the 10-year yield is around 4.30 percent. The resilience of the U.S. economy continues to surprise and recession is nowhere near, at least in the data," Ozkardeskaya added.

Meanwhile, Brent consolidates gains above USD90 per barrel after Russia and Saudi Arabia announced that production cuts will continue until the end of December.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is expected to open down 0.3 percent or 85.0 points, after closing 1.5 percent in the red at 28,211.46.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is expected to fall 22.8 points or 0.3 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 down 52.8 points or 0.3 percent while London's FTSE 100 is expected to open in the red 18.2 points or 0.2 percent.

Among Italy's smaller listings on Wednesday evening, the Mid-Cap closed 1.5 percent in the red at 41,390.27, the Small-Cap gave up 1.2 percent to 26,875.38 while the Italy Growth ended down 0.9 percent at 8,797.31.

On the bluechip list, among the few stocks in positive territory Leonardo posted a plus 1.0 percent.

Pirelli, on the other hand, advanced 0.4 percent, in its third bullish session.

Prysmian -- up 0.1% -- on Tuesday reported that it had signed a capacity reservation agreement for a capacity reservation fee of up to about EUR90 million with Marinus Link Pty, a subsidiary of TasNetworks, Australia's transmission systems operator, for a new power interconnection between Tasmania and the state of Victoria. The agreement provides for, among other things, the Commonwealth government's guarantee of the capacity reservation fee of up to about EUR90 million and Prysmian's continued availability of capacity until the final contract is signed to be in place by July 2024.

Banca Monte dei Paschi, on the other hand, gave up 5.6 percent to EUR2.32 per share, after surging, albeit by 0.9 percent, in the previous session.

Assicurazioni Generali - in the red by 0.8 percent - placed on Tuesday a new euro-denominated Tier 2 bond maturing in September, issued in a "green" format under its Sustainability Bond Framework.

On the Mid-Cap, Banca Popolare di Sondrio did well, posting plus 1.5 percent, rearing its head after four bearish sessions.

Antares, on the other hand, rallied 1.3 percent to EUR6.50 per share, after a 0.8 percent gain on the eve.

Anima Holding--down 0.7 percent--reported Wednesday that net inflows from assets under management in August were positive at EUR256 million. Taking into account Branch I insurance proxies, negative EUR1.12 billion, total net inflows for the month were negative EUR866 million, and negative EUR742 million since the beginning of the year. At the end of August, the group's total assets under management stood at about EUR188.2 billion up from EUR182.8 billion recorded on August 31, 2022.

Safilo, on the other hand, gave up 6.7 percent. The company on Tuesday morning announced that, following previous communications from the company, it confirms that the minutes of agreement for the future of the Longarone plant was signed this morning in the Veneto Region.

De Longhi, on the other hand, gave up 7.1 percent to EUR22.90, after a 0.6 percent loss on the eve of the meeting.

On the Small-Cap, Olidata took the top spot with a 25 percent rise after reporting Tuesday that it had been awarded an Enel contract worth about EUR5.0 million through its subsidiary Sferanet. The contract is for a digitization and document management solution, Olidata points out in a statement.

Beewize, on the other hand, rallied 4.1 percent, rebounding after three bearish sessions.

Servizi Italia, on the other hand, advanced 0.4 percent to EUR1.29 per share, in its third bullish session.

Piquadro finished up 2.7 percent at EUR2.32, after touching a 52-week high at EUR2.35. The company, which is continuing with its buyback program, most recently disclosed on Monday that it had bought back its own shares in the period between August 28 and September 1 for a total value of about EUR67,000.

Netweek, on the other hand, gave up 5.9 percent, with price at EUR0.3220, in its third bearish session.

Immsi closed 1.0 percent in the red, after a 1.5 percent gain on the eve of the session. The company reported Tuesday that its board of directors approved its half-year report as of June 30, reporting a net profit of EUR47.1 million, up 27 percent from EUR24.4 million in the same period of 2022. Revenues amounted to EUR1.28 billion, up from EUR1.07 billion in the first half of 2022.

Among SMEs, good trades on Finanza.Tech, which posted a plus 1.9% at EUR0.7460 rearing its head after three sessions in a bearish trend.

The buy side also prevails on 4AIM Sicaf, which marked a plus 4.1% after four bearish sessions.

Digital360 closed flat EUR5.34, despite the fact that the company announced Tuesday that it had concluded through its Spanish subsidiary Digital360 Iberia SL, the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in Omnitel Comunicaciones SL, and 55 percent in AdjudicacionesTic SL, both based in Madrid, with the possibility of acquiring the remaining shares in 2026, in conjunction with the approval of the budget for the year 2025.

Italia Independent closed down 4.2 percent, ranking in the rear with price at EUR0.57.

Estrima, on the other hand, left 4.0 percent on the parterre after a 5.5 percent gain on the eve.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed 0.7 percent in the red at 33,010.00, the Shanghai Composite gave up 1.1 percent to 3,123.62, and the Hang Seng gave up 1.1 percent to 18,246.00.

Among U.S. exchanges, the Dow Jones closed in the red 0.6 percent to 34,443.19, the S&P down 0.7 percent to 4,465.48, and the Nasdaq finished down 1.1 percent to 13,872.47.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0724 to USD1.0715 in Wednesday's closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2507 to USD1.2502 on Wednesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD90.20 per barrel versus USD90.19 per barrel at Wednesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,919.23 an ounce from USD1,916.47 an ounce on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday's economic calendar, the retail sales figure is released at 1000 CEST in Italy.

At 1100 CEST, from the Eurozone comes the employment, current account and GDP data.

From the U.S., at 1430 CEST, there are claims for unemployment benefits, at 1730 CEST the crude oil stocks figure and the Cushing inventory in addition to the 4- and 8-week Treasury auctions.

At 2255 CEST, however, a speech by FOMC memebro Bowman is scheduled.

On the corporate calendar, upcoming half-yearly reports from Equita Group, Eurotech, Gas Plus, MutuiOnline Group, Intermonte Partners SIM, IVS Group, LU-VE, MeglioQuesto, Neodecortech, SOL and Italian Sea Group.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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