Futures in green; wait for ECB decision

(Alliance News) - Major European stock exchanges are expected to rise on IG futures on Monday, at the start of a week that will see the European Central Bank take center stage, with its announcement on its interest rates scheduled for Thursday.

"With much of the European economy grappling with weak demand," comments Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, "as well as an economy that has seen very little growth since the third quarter of 2022, calls for the ECB to consider a modest easing of monetary policy have been growing louder. In contrast to "Joachim Nagel of the Bundesbank, Robert Holzmann of Austria and ECB President Christine Lagarde," who dismissed the idea of an early rate cut last week, "although Lagarde kept open the possibility of a summer rate cut."

Thus, the FTSE Mib is expected to rise 202.5 points or 0.7 percent after closing in the red by 0.8 percent to 30,098.86, London's FTSE 100 is expected to open in the green by 17.9 points or 0.2 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is given a gain of 46.7 points or 0.7 percent while Frankfurt's DAX 40 advances 122.5 points or 0.7 percent.

"After rallying toward the end of last year," Hewson further points out, "markets in the U.S. have picked up where they left off, with new record highs for all three major indexes, led by the Nasdaq 100, which is up 2.9 percent since the start of the year, thanks to further gains from the Magnificent 7, led by Nvidia, up 20 percent since the start of the year.

The current divergence between the U.S. and European markets, according to the analyst, "is likely due to the belief that the U.S. economy is in much better shape than its European counterparts, a belief that is likely to be further reinforced this week by the latest U.S. fourth-quarter GDP data, ahead of the week's upcoming Fed meeting."

Among Italy's smaller lists, the Mid-Cap gave up 0.5 percent to 44,090.45 on Friday, the Small-Cap fell 0.9 percent to 27,338.70, and Italy Growth ended 0.3 percent in the red to 8,215.06.

On the Mib, Eni closed 1.1 percent in the red after announcing that it had signed an agreement with KazMunayGas, in Rome, regarding the innovative 250 MW gas-renewable hybrid power plant project in the city of Zhanaozen, Mangystau region, Kazakhstan.

In addition, LG Chem and Eni's Enilive announced Friday the signing of the joint venture agreement, which is another step toward the final investment decision for a new biorefinery project in South Korea.

The agreement was signed in Rome by Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and LG Chem CEO Shin Hak-cheol.

Telecom Italia--up 0.5 percent in closing--reported Thursday that the board of directors met for an update on ongoing activities and to define the steps to be taken in relation to the renewal of the board of directors, which will expire with the approval of the budget to Dec. 31, 2023.

In view of this renewal, "in compliance with the recommendations of the Corporate Governance Code of Borsa Italiana" and "in light of the outcomes of the Board Review," the board considers it appropriate to reduce the number of its members, from the current 15 to nine.

UniCredit gave up 0.6 percent in closing after announcing Thursday its 2030 interim target for the steel sector, which is part of the bank's commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050 of its loan and investment portfolio.

On the cadet segment, Webuild -- in the green by 0.4 percent -- announced Wednesday that it will carry out interventions for the EUR4.7 billion Trojena ski destination in Saudi Arabia.

This is a "unique infrastructural intervention to create in a desert area a resort of the future with dams, a lake, and iconic architectural works," the company announced.

Maire Tecnimont lost 1.5 percent after reporting Wednesday that its subsidiary Tecnimont was awarded a front-end-engineering design contract for a green ammonia plant in Norway.

Gamma Intermediate reported Thursday that it had completed the placement of 16 million common shares of Lottomatica--green by 4.4 percent--equivalent to 6.4 percent of the latter's share capital.

Among smallcaps, WIIT - in the red by 2.0 percent - reported Thursday that it had obtained a EUR10 million loan from Intesa Sanpaolo Spa, backed by a green guarantee from SACE.

The financing will support the company's pursuit of its environmental goals - WIIT4Climate - specifically, for the purchase of new servers, storage and software. Indeed, the exponential increase in digital traffic volumes is forcing ICT companies to adopt energy-efficient solutions and move toward the production and procurement of energy from renewable sources.

BF -- up 0.3 percent -- announced Thursday that a memorandum was signed between BF International Best Fields Best Food Limited and Agrofirma TNK LLP to launch a strategic partnership designed to develop the agricultural sector in Kazakhstan.

Autostrade Meridionali lost 52 percent after it announced Thursday that the board of directors positively evaluated the company's voluntary liquidation and the partial distribution of the extraordinary reserve for about EUR30 million.

The decision, the document says, "was made following the takeover from April 2022 of the new concessionaire in the management activities of the Naples-Pompei-Salerno freeway section, having substantially settled the items arising from the previous management of the freeway section and in the absence of further business opportunities."

Safilo is up 3.1 percent after announcing Thursday that it, along with Levi's, has renewed its global license agreement for Levi's branded eyewear until the end of 2029.

Among SMEs, Yolo Group - in the red by 8.3 percent - announced Thursday that as of Friday the position of investor relator will be taken over by Francesco Grieco, the company's former chief financial officer, replacing Roberta Pazzini, who gave up the position in order to pursue a new and different career path.

Racing Force surrendered 0.4 percent after announcing Thursday its wide-ranging partnership with Team Brady, owned by U.S. football star Tom Brady, which from this year will race in the new UIM E1 World Championship, the first electric powerboat series. For this racing effort, Team Brady has chosen OMP, Bell Racing and Racing Spirit products, brands of the group.

expert.ai rose 0.3 percent after reporting Thursday that it won the public tender called by Consip to digitize healthcare.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 1.7 percent at 36,546.95, the Hang Seng gave up 2.8 percent to 14,885.00, and the Shanghai Composite finished 2.7 percent in the red at 2,756.34.

In New York on Friday, the Dow closed in the green 1.1 percent to 37,863.80, the Nasdaq up 1.7 percent to 15,310.97 and the S&P 500 finished up 1.2 percent to 4,839.81.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0906 versus USD1.0882 recorded at Friday's European stock close, while the pound was worth USD1.2714 from USD1.2679 on Friday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD78.13 per barrel versus USD79.15 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,023.73 an ounce from USD2,029.60 an ounce on Friday night.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar features M3 money supply data at 0900 CET in Switzerland.

Overseas, at 1600 CET, from the US comes the data on the predictive index.

On the bond front, the results of an auction of French 3-, 6- and 12-month BTPs are expected in France at 1455 CET.

From the US, at 1730 CET, it is the turn of the results of 3- and 6-month Treasury bond auctions.

Among companies listed on Piazza Affari, no particular announcements are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to [e-mail]

Copyright 2024 Alliance News IS Italian Service Ltd. All rights reserved.