(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari is expected to be essentially flat on the day of the U.S. election count, with Donald Trump given ahead over Kamala Harris for the time being.

As the counting continues, what is certain is that Republicans have wrested the U.S. Senate from Democratic control, according to U.S. media predictions, ending four years of minority rule and giving the party a huge boost in its quest to dominate every branch of Congress.

The victory means the incoming president will gain huge support to implement his agenda and appoint judges to the powerful U.S. Supreme Court if it is Donald Trump - but a legislative stalemate if it is his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris.

The FTSE Mib is given up 81.6 points or 0.2 percent after closing 0.2 percent in the red at 34,472.06 on Tuesday's session.

London's FTSE 100 is shown up 58.7 points or 0.7 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is expected up 24.0 points or 0.3 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected up 33.7 points or 0.2 percent.

In Milan last night, the Mid-Cap rose 0.5 percent to 45,980.93, the Small-Cap closed on parity at 27,907.27 while Italy Growth gave up 0.5 percent to 7,909.18.

On the Mib, Leonardo did best of all, up 3.7 percent, after it announced that it had signed a framework agreement with GDHF to supply 10 AW189 helicopters for offshore transport.

Banca Popolare di Sondrio, up 2.7 percent, also did well, while Interpump Group, up 1.8 percent, closed out the podium.

Banco BPM rose 1.7 percent on the eve of the release of its nine-month results.

DiaSorin closed up 0.9 percent. The company reported that it closed the first nine months of the year with a profit of EUR141 million from EUR112 million as of September 30, 2023.

In the six-month period, revenues stood at EUR876 million from EUR846 million in the first nine months of 2023.

Italgas -- flat at EUR5.63 per share -- reported Tuesday that it received an updated ESG rating of 70/100 from Moody's, up from last year's score of 69/100 and above the industry average of 54/100.

Among the bearish performers, Ferrari ranked at the bottom with a 7.1 percent decline. The company reported "rising results" as its third-quarter earnings accelerated.

Net income in the third quarter improved 13 percent year-on-year to EUR375 million from EUR332 million, and revenues rose 6.5 percent to EUR1.64 billion from EUR1.54 billion.

Adjusted earnings per share rose 14 percent to EUR2.08 from EUR1.82 but remained below consensus of EUR2.18.

On the Mid-Cap, Buzzi--up 6.5 percent--reported Tuesday that it posted revenues of EUR3.18 billion in the first nine months, down from EUR3.20 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Cement and concrete sales volumes were down 6.4 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, "penalized by the challenging market environment in Central Europe and the lack of recovery in Italy and the U.S. during the summer months," the company pointed out.

Zignago Vetro gave up 4.2% after it reported Tuesday that it closed the first nine months of the year with a net profit of EUR32.3 million from EUR95.6 million, down 66% from the figure as of Sept. 30, 2023.

For the nine months, revenues stood at EUR473.7 million from EUR545.9 million, down 13 percent from the third quarter 2023 figure, despite rising sales volumes, the company explained.

Piaggio & C. rose 0.2 percent after it unveiled the new Porter NPE, the first full electric city truck, on Tuesday at an international premiere held at the Ecomondo trade fair in Rimini.

Among smallcaps, Bestbe Holding -- flat at EUR0.30 per share -- announced Tuesday the resignation of Giacomo Mercalli as executive director.

Autostrade Meridionali gave up 2.5 percent. The company reported its results for the year to September 30 on Monday. Profit for the period was EUR602,000, down 6.5 percent from EUR644,000 for the same period in 2023.

Total revenues amounted to EUR1.96 million, down 41 percent from EUR3.3 million a year earlier as of Sept. 30.

Among SMEs, Execus eprised 6.8 percent after it announced on Tuesday that its board of directors has set up a EUR100,000.00 maximum 50,000 share buyback program.

The duration of the purchase program is set from Nov. 6 to Dec. 6.

Intred closed flat at EUR12.50 per share after releasing data for the first nine months on Tuesday that saw revenues at EUR40.7 million, up 11 percent from the same period 2023.

Pozzi Milano gained 0.7 percent after it announced Tuesday the acquisition of an order worth more than EUR1.6 million to supply products in Poland.

The agreement provides for the distribution of EasyLife brand products through a well-known European chain and confirms the effectiveness of the company's strategy of internationalization and diversification, which was already presented at its IPO and half-year report in 2024.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Wednesday up 2.6 percent to 39,480.67, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.4 percent to 3,374.15 and the Hang Seng was down 2.7 percent to 20,439.56.

In New York, the Dow closed Tuesday up 1.0 percent to 42,221.88, the Nasdaq rose 1.4 percent to 18,439.17 while the S&P 500 gained 1.2 percent to 5,782.76.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0714 from USD1.0918 on Tuesday in closing European equities. The pound is worth USD1.2851 versus USD1.3016 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD73.80 per barrel from USD76.11 per barrel Tuesday night. Gold trades at USD2,720.22 an ounce from USD2,749.00 an ounce last night.

On Wednesday's economic calendar, at 0050 CET are the minutes of the latest Japanese monetary policy meeting, while at 0130 CET also from Japan come the PMI data for the services sector.

At 0080 CET it is the turn of German factory orders data, while from 0915 CET to 1030 CET the Composite and Services PMI data for Spain, Italy, Germany, France, the Eurozone and the United Kingdom are released.

At 1100 CET, again from the Eurozone, the Producer Price Index data is released.

At 1300 CET, data on 30-year mortgages in the US are published.

Overseas, the US at 1630 CET will publish data on crude oil stocks.

Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, the results of Anima Holding, Ariston Holding, Banco BPM, BPER Banca, Cementir Holding, Poste Italiane and Snam, among others, are expected.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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