(Alliance News) - On Friday, major European stock markets close in positive territory, on a record day for the London Stock Exchange, boosted by good retail sales data and those of some major British companies, while a number of results of major domestic companies were also published in Milan.

Thus, the FTSE Mib closes in the green by 0.1 percent to 31,732.39, the Mid-Cap gains 0.7 percent to 45,513.79, the Small-Cap rises 0.3 percent to 27,603.88, and Italy Growth ends up 0.1 percent to 8,128.54.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 ends in the green by 1.5 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 rises 0.4 percent, and Paris' CAC 40 ends in the green by 0.3 percent.

"The FTSE 100 outperforming its peers in a rising market is a rare phenomenon, especially when some, such as France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX 40, reach new all-time highs. The U.K. blue chip index has risen nearly 3 percent in the past three days and today shrugged off a rise in U.S. producer prices, the highest in five months, that has dampened the upward momentum of other markets on both sides of the ocean," commented Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at IG.

"UK retail sales rose to the highest in nearly three years and Natwest posted its largest annual profit since the 2007 financial crisis, in addition to higher oil prices, contributed to the FTSE 100's strong gains. In fact, Brent crude oil prices have risen in nine of the last 10 trading days as investors reflect on the situation in the Middle East amid supply concerns."

"U.S. natural gas prices rose about 2 percent on the back of short-selling profit-taking ahead of the weekend. Natural gas prices rose about 2 percent thanks to profit-taking by short sellers ahead of the weekend, after slipping to the lowest level since July 2020 due to ample production levels and weak demand due to good weather. Gold prices saw little change on the day, while silver prices rose ahead of next week's FOMC minutes."

On the Mib, Unipol finished ahead with a 21 percent gain on the day when corporate results were published. The company reported Friday that it had posted a profit increase to EUR1.33 billion in 2023 from EUR866 million a year earlier.

Following the strong 2023 figures, the company decided to raise the dividend to EUR0.38 from EUR0.37 a year earlier.

Prysmian -- in the green by 1.8 percent -- on Thursday reported that it had finalized contracts for three orders with an aggregate value of about EUR5 billion with Amprion, one of Europe's leading transmission system operators, for two offshore grid connection systems, BalWin1 and BalWin2, and the DC34 onshore cable project.

The orders, which have now been included in Prysmian's order backlog, follow Prysmian's selection as "preferred bidder" in August 2023.

Among the bearish, Eni gives up 3.1 percent after the accounts. The company disclosed that it has approved consolidated results for the year and the fourth quarter of 2023, which closed with a net profit of EUR4.75 billion from EUR13.89 billion in the previous year.

Adjusted net income attributable to Eni shareholders for the fourth quarter 2023 was EUR1.64 billion with a consolidated tax rate of about 48 percent. In FY2023, adjusted net income attributable to Eni shareholders was EUR8.3 billion and the tax rate was about 44 percent.

On the cadet segment, the board of UnipolSai -- up 11 percent -- on Friday disclosed that it had analyzed preliminary results for FY2023, a period that ended with a consolidated net profit of EUR766 million, up from EUR651 million a year ago.

The board then proposed the distribution of a slightly increased dividend, rising to EUR0.165 from EUR0.16 in 2022.

Fincantieri rises 1.9 percent a day after announcing Thursday that it has completed the acquisition of the entire capital of Remazel Engineering Spa from Advanced Technology Industrial SA.

As previously reported, the consideration paid for 100 percent of the capital was EUR65 million.

Among smallcaps, Esprinet -- in the green by 1.3 percent -- reported Wednesday that it had revenues from customer contracts of EUR4.0 billion in 2023, down 15 percent from EUR4.7 billion in 2022.

The latest quarter saw revenues of about EUR1.2 billion, down 15 percent from the same period in 2022 when they were EUR1.5 billion.

Gefran rises 0.2 percent, after reporting Wednesday that it ended 2023 with revenues down slightly year-on-year to EUR132.8 million from EUR134.4 million a year earlier.

Revenues as of Dec. 31, 2022, included EUR1.8 million, of which EUR800,000 related to the billing of services to companies that left the scope due to the sale of the drives business to the WEG Group and EUR900,000 for residual sales of drives products not subject to restatement, as they were generated by companies excluded from the scope of the business sale.

Restart gives up 0.5 percent, after announcing Tuesday that the board approved guidelines for drafting the new business plan.

The plan will pursue two business models: the balanced one involves the purchase in ownership of real estate assets with the aim of generating constant and indexed revenues over time that will ensure stable profitability; the opportunistic one involves a strategy aimed at seeking investment opportunities or opportunistic co-investment of portfolios or distressed assets underlying NPLs or UTPs, which are to be restructured, developed and repositioned in order to maximize their value for investors and shareholders by reselling them on the market.

Among SMEs, Cofle -- up 0.7 percent -- announced Friday that it had appointed Andrea Benettello as the company's new general manager, "marking a fundamental step in the company's evolution and reorganization strategy."

Palingeo rises 7.8 percent on its debut among Piazza Affari SMEs Friday after a EUR7.4 million IPO.

The company, founded in 1999 in Brescia, is active in geotechnics. It operates in the special foundations sector, offering services to leading operators in the civil and infrastructure construction sector, and to industrial or public administration operators.

ALA rises 1.9 percent after reporting Thursday that it closed 2023 with a value of production of EUR233.1 million compared to EUR158.7 million the previous year, an increase of 47 percent.

In New York, the Dow is in the red 0.1 percent to 38,731.14, the Nasdaq gives up 0.2 percent to 15,876.55 and the S&P 500 is in the fractional red at 5,028.96.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0771 against USD1.0760 recorded at Thursday's European stock close, while the pound is worth USD1.2591 from USD1.2576 on Thursday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD83.27 per barrel versus USD82.96 per barrel at Thursday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,021.15 an ounce from USD2,012.50 an ounce last night.

On Monday, with the Canadian Stock Exchange closed for Family Day, the calendar opens at 0101 CET with the Rughtmove index of residential housing prices.

At 1000 CET it is the turn of the Spanish trade balance, while an hour later comes the release of the Spanish consumer confidence index.

At 1200 CET, Germany's Buba publishes its monthly report.

Despite the close, data on the industrial goods price index in Canada are expected at 1430 CET.

Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, the results of GEL and Ferretti are expected.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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