(Alliance News) - On Monday, Piazza Affari and the major European stock exchanges are expected to be in positive territory, following last week's mixed performance in the wake of uninspiring economic data from the Eurozone.

"Last week showed a sharp contrast between the U.S. and European markets," explained Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank.

"In the U.S., equity indices posted strong gains. In Europe, however, markets showed signs of weakness."

For the analyst, the decline in Eurozone PMIs reinforce expectations of a 50 basis point rate cut from the ECB in December. However, structural obstacles such as tight regulations and tensions with China are holding back economic recovery.

"On the currency front, the U.S. dollar gained ground, pushing the EUR/USD exchange rate to a low of 1.0330 before rising again to 1.0480. Tactical buying opportunities are expected in case of further declines below 1.05," concluded Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote Bank.

Futures give the FTSE Mib up 192.5 points or up 0.6 percent after closing Friday's session up 0.6 percent at 33,494.83.

Paris' CAC 40 is expected to be in the green by 0.5 percent or up 37.2 points, as Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to be in the green by 0.5 percent or up 96.9 points, while London's FTSE 100 is expected to be up 0.2 percent or up 12.9 points.

In Milan on Friday evening, the Mid-Cap rose 0.6 percent to 46,830.47, the Small-Cap gained 0.1 percent to 26,984.76, and Italy Growth lost 0.1 percent to 7,728.95.

On the macroeconomic front, the U.S. Composite PMI rose to 55.3 points in November, marking the strongest U.S. private sector growth since 2022, according to data provided by S&P Global on Friday.

Also in the US, the services sector expanded significantly, with the PMI at 57.0 points, while manufacturing remained in contraction, with PMI at 48.8 points.

Back in Milan, on the highest-capitalization list of Piazza Affari, the queen company of Friday's session was Brunello Cucinelli, up 3.8 percent.

DiaSorin followed, with purchases driving the stock up 3.02. Millennium International Management cut its short on the stock to 1.38 percent from 1.46 percent.

Recordati, Stellantis, and Terna also did well, closing with gains between 2.9% and 2.8%.

Eni closed in the green by 0.7 percent. Ithaca Energy, an oil & gas company formed from the merger of Eni's U.K. and North Sea assets, announced an extraordinary dividend of USD200 million, or about GBP160 million, to be distributed on Dec. 20, Milano Finanza reported Friday. This is the first dividend after the business combination with Eni, which holds a 38.7 percent stake and will receive about USD193 million. In total, Ithaca will distribute about USD500 million in 2024.

Badly the banking sector, which remained under pressure despite rumors of a possible 50 basis point cut by the ECB, abetted by geopolitical concerns, a weak euro and weakening economic activity in the eurozone, as evidenced by this morning's PMIs.

Thus at the bottom of the main Italian list we find UniCredit, down 1.9 percent, and BPER Banca, Banco BPM, Banca Monte Paschi di Siena and Intesa Sanpaolo, with declines between 1.5 and 0.9 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, OVS closed up 3.8 percent after falling 7.3 percent on the eve.

Reply finished at the bottom of the list, down 3.0% at EUR150.30. Of note, on the stock Beremberg raised its target price to EUR160.00 from EUR144.00 per share.

Profit taking, after Thursday's session buying, for MFE-MediaForEurope, with class A shares closing down 1.6%, and class B shares down 0.6%.

On the Small-Cap, PLC did well, ending the last session of the week with a 19 percent flight. The company reported Thursday that its subsidiary PLC Service signed an agreement with Sonnedix Italia Operation Srl to manage O&M services on a photovoltaic plant located in the municipalities of Augusta and Melilli, Sicily, with a total rated capacity of more than 80 MWp.

Also doing well were Eurotech and AbitareIn with rises of 9.5 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively.

At the tail end of the list, doValue gave up 16 percent. The company announced Friday that it had completed the acquisition of 100 percent of Gardant, aiming to consolidate its leadership in the Italian and international markets.

The transaction, worth a total of EUR230.0 million, includes cash consideration of EUR181.0 million, the assumption of net financial debt, amounting to EUR50.4 million, and the issuance of new shares representing 20 percent of the combined entity.

Fidia continued its decline, down 7.2 percent, hitting a new low during the session.

Among SMEs, Pharmacosmo closed 13% ahead after three sessions of significant declines.

DHH--up 1.7 percent--reported Friday that it ended the nine months with revenues of ERU27.4 million compared to EUR25.6 million in the same period last year. Ebitda increased to EUR8.7 million from EUR7.3 million and pretax profit rose to EUR4.4 million from EUR2.7 million. Net income more than doubled to EUR3.0 million from EUR1.4 million a year earlier.

Renovalo, up 3.2 percent, on an update on tax receivable demobilization activity, announced Friday that it had signed the last assignment contract worth EUR2.8 million. As a result, all EUR76.7 million of tax receivables from invoice discounting on the balance sheet as of Dec. 31, 2023, have been demobilized.

Edil San Felice is doing well, up 1.6 percent, after it announced Friday that it has been awarded routine maintenance work on the Cassino Direction VI Section with a major contract from Autostrade per l'Italia worth EUR12.1 million.

Circle and H-Farm fared badly, with declines of 12 percent and 8.0 percent, respectively.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 1.3 percent, the Hang Seng in the red by 0.2 percent, and the Shanghai Composite finished in the red by 0.1 percent.

In New York, the Dow closed up 1.0 percent, the Nasdaq finished in the green by 0.2 percent, and the S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0482 from USD1.0395 on Friday in closing European equities. The pound is worth USD1.2599 against USD1.2509 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD74.19 a barrel from USD74.90 a barrel Friday night. Gold trades at USD2,691.90 an ounce from USD2,704.60 an ounce Friday night.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar opens at 0900 CET, from Spain, with the producer price data.

At 1000 CET, from Germany, it is the turn of sentiment among German companies.

In the afternoon, French yield auctions are scheduled at 1500 CET, and from 1730 CET, US T-Note auctions.

Among the companies in the Italian stock market, Solutions Capital Management SIM will release its interim results.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to redazione@alliancenews.com

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