In Europe, London leads; TIM and oil push on Mib.

(Alliance News) - On Tuesday, major European stock markets confirmed expectations and all opened in positive territory, with the London Stock Exchange leading the others.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.3 percent to 28,640.87, the Mid-Cap rises 0.2 percent to 41,733.71, the Small-Cap gains 0.3 percent to 27,124.29, and Italy Growth rises 0.2 percent to 8,878.89.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the green by 0.2 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 rises 0.3 percent while London's FTSE 100 is in the green by 1.6 percent.

In macroeconomic news, just in the UK, store price inflation decelerated further in August.

According to the latest British Retail Consortium-NielsenIQ tracker released Tuesday, the annual store price inflation rate fell to 6.9 percent in August from 8.4 percent in July. This is below the quarterly average of 8.0 percent and the lowest rate since October 2022.

In Germany, however, the GfK indicator on consumer sentiment in Germany released Tuesday unexpectedly fell to minus 25.5 in September from the previous month's revised minus 24.6, missing market forecasts of minus 24.3.

From Japan, the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 2.7 percent in July from 2.5 percent in June, defying market forecasts of no change.

This is the highest unemployment rate in four months.

On the blue chip list, Telecom Italia still does very well as it continues to hold the top spot on the Mib with a 1.9 percent gain. The Italian government gave the go-ahead Monday evening for a stake of up to EUR2.2 billion in Telecom Italia's fixed-line network through a joint bid with U.S. investment fund KKR.

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said the Council of Ministers approved a decree granting the state the funds to take a stake of up to 20 percent in the network. The stake, "up to EUR2.2 billion," will allow Italy to play a role in "what we consider a decisive infrastructure for the country's future," Giorgetti told reporters.

The agreement signed in early August with KKR called for the Economy Ministry to take a minority stake in TIM's future company, combining the fixed-line network and submarine cable subsidiary.

Saipem also rises, in the green by 1.6 percent. The company received formal notification of the finalization of the Golfinho transaction between BW Energy and Petrobras, under which BW Energy acquired 100 percent of the exploitation rights to the Golfinho field.

Under the MOA, the consideration to be paid by BW Energy to Saipem for the sale of the FPSO is USD73 million, of which USD38 million upon the finalization of the Golfinho transaction and UD35 million in 18 monthly installments following the transfer of the unit. The completion of the Golfinho transaction was a condition precedent for the sale of the FPSO, which currently operates at full production capacity, and for the initial consideration payments.

Eni rises 0.5 percent after reporting Monday that it has started oil and gas production from the Baleine field in the deep waters of Côte d'Ivoire. This milestone comes less than two years after its discovery in September 2021 and less than a year and a half after the final investment decision. It is the first zero-emission production project - Scopes 1 and 2 - in Africa.

The other oil Tenaris is also traveling up, up 0.5 percent to EUR15.23 per share.

At the bottom are Azimut, Banca Generali, CNH Industrial, Iveco Group, and Leonardo, giving up between 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, Saras continues the bullish oil trend already seen on the Mib and gains 1.7 percent. On the stock, WorldQuant revised its short position to 0.69% from 0.73% previously.

On the buyback front, Anima rises 0.4% after reporting that it bought back EUR2 million worth of its own shares; Webuild gives up 0.1% after buying back EUR30,000 worth of shares; and Tamburi is up 0.4% after buying back more than 18,000 shares.

Good day for fashion, with Brunello Cucinelli expected to release first-half data today, which is in the green by 1.6%, Salvatore Ferragamo rises 0.9%, Tod's is up 0.3%, and Safilo picks up 0.5%.

On the small-cap side, Itway gives up 0.9 percent. The company reported on Friday that its subsidiary 4Science continued its upward trend during the first half of the year, recording a 117% growth in orders compared to the first half of 2022, reaching an order value of more than EUR1.2 million.

On the opposite side of the list is Olidata, rising 8.4 percent. The company announced Monday that it was awarded a 30% RTI contract worth more than EUR30 million.

Olidata explained that the framework agreement concerns the awarding related to the supply, maintenance and management of upgrades to Sogei's Data Connectivity Switches for the next 36 months.

Among SMEs, VNE is not yet affected by the exchanges, but it announced Monday that it has signed directly and through its subsidiary VNE Renting, 5 new contracts for the supply of products and services inherent to the gaming sector for a total value of EUR540,000.

Almawave rises 7.1 percent after it announced Monday evening that it and Microsoft Italy signed an agreement aimed at promoting generative artificial intelligence in Enterprise applications to optimize data management and content navigation.

Circle rises 0.9 percent. The company signed a contract with another leading port in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The value of the order is approximately EUR135,000 and the duration of the assignment is 9 months.

At the tail are UCapital24 and TPS, which both leave 4.3 percent on the parterre.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 0.2% to 32,226.97, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.2% to 3,135.89, and the Hang Seng gained 2.0% to 18,496.10.

Last night in New York, the Dow Jones closed up 0.6 percent to 34,559.98, the Nasdaq rose 0.8 percent to 13,705.13 and the S&P 500 finished up 0.6 percent to 4,433.31.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0823 versus USD1.0809 in Monday's European equities close while the pound was worth USD1.2626 from USD1.2587 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD83.91 per barrel versus USD84.53 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,951.85 an ounce from USD1,923.91 an ounce on Monday evening.

On Tuesday's economic calendar, at 1200 CEST, the European Commission's economic forecast will be released.

At 1600 CEST, from the US, will come the new jobs JOLTs while, at 2230 CEST, it will be the turn of weekly oil stocks.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, the half-yearly ressults of Brunello Cucinelli and Italian Exhibition Group are expected.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to [e-mail]

Copyright 2023 Alliance News IS Italian Service Ltd. All rights reserved.