(Alliance News) - European stock markets closed mixed on Monday, with markets shrugging off this morning's PMI data and with the Eurozone private sector reporting a sharper contraction in activity in July than the market had expected, as disclosed Monday by S&P Global survey results.

The composite PMI, therefore, fell to 48.9 points in July from 49.9 in June, at the lowest in eight months and below both the 49.7 estimate and the 50.0 figure separating contraction from expansion in the sector.

"The FTSE 100 and other markets reversed their morning weakness despite a series of less-than-stellar PMIs," explains Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at online trading platform IG. "These pushed down the euro and the pound, giving European indices their usual modest uptick, but ahead of this week's central bank decisions there is a growing sense that the period of rate hikes is coming to an end, raising hopes for a market rally towards the end of the year."

As a result, the FTSE Mib closed up 0.2 percent to 28,908.42, the Mid-Cap was up 0.4 percent to 42,323.10, the Small-Cap was up 0.5 percent to 26,804.38, and Italy Growth closed in the green 0.2 percent to 9,082.35.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed up 0.2 percent, Paris' CAC 40 in the fractional red while Frankfurt's DAX 40 just above par.

On the macro front, Monday's data showed that U.S. private sector growth weakened in July, with the services sector losing some steam. In contrast, the decline in the manufacturing sector eased.

The latest flash reading of the S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index, therefore, dropped to a five-month low of 52.0 points from 53.2 in June. The figure approached the 50.0-point mark, suggesting a slowdown in growth.

The composite PMI is a weighted average of the services and manufacturing readings. The services PMI fell to 52.4 points in July, down from 54.4 in June. The manufacturing PMI rose to 49.0 points from 46.3, a three-month high.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, Intesa Sanpaolo rose 0.2 percent. The bank announced Monday that it has established its first private debt fund to support the development of SMEs and midcaps through innovative financial solutions that support the real economy and sustainable transition processes in a complex but decisive phase for the country's competitiveness.

Stellantis -- which advances 1.6 percent -- and Samsung SDI announced Monday that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a second battery production plant in the U.S. under the StarPlus Energy joint venture. The plant, scheduled to start production in 2027, aims to have an initial annual production capacity of 34 gigawatt hours.

Leonardo-which ends in profit by 0.5 percent-reported Monday that it has been awarded 18 research and development projects, including 10 capacitive development and eight research projects, under the European Defence Fund WP22.

Of the EUR832 million allocated by the EU, projects in which Leonardo is participating have been awarded a total of about EUR614 million.

On the Mid-Cap, Fincantieri - up 0.1 percent - and Leonardo announced Wednesday that Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, the joint venture 51 percent owned by the former and 49 percent owned by the latter, has signed, with the Directorate of Naval Armaments of the General Secretariat of Defense, the framework agreement for maintenance in operational condition for the aircraft carrier Cavour and the Navy's Horizon-class destroyers Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio.

The agreement has a maximum total value of EUR190 million and will run out at the end of 2028.

Juventus Football Club sold 0.5 percent. The club announced over the weekend that it had reached an agreement with ACF Fiorentina Srl for the sale, on a temporary basis until June 30, 2024, of the right to the sports performance of the player Arthur Henrique Ramos De Oliveira Melo for a consideration of EUR2 million, plus bonuses of up to a maximum of EUR2 million upon the occurrence of certain sporting objectives.

In addition, the agreement provides Fiorentina with the option for Fiorentina to permanently acquire the player's sports performance; the agreed consideration for the permanent transfer is EUR20 million, payable in three fiscal years.

On the Small-Cap, PLC - in the red by 1.1 percent - reported Friday that its subsidiary PLC Service was awarded the revamping of 19 plants held by vehicles controlled by Acea Sun Capital, a company 60 percent controlled by the British private equity fund Equitix and 40 percent by the Acea Spa group.

Sogefi -- in the green by 3.1 percent -- reported Monday that in the first half of the year it posted net income of EUR31.4 million, up from EUR20.8 million in the same period of 2022.

Revenues amounted to EUR852.4 million from EUR756.0 million in the first half of 2022.

Ebitda was EUR111.1 million up from EUR99.8 million in the same period last year.

Among SMEs, Take Off closed down 5.2 percent after announcing on Monday that it had EUR15.5 million in revenues for the first half of the year ending June 30, 2023, up nearly 20 percent from EUR12.9 million recorded as of June 30, 2022. However, the Ebitda margin for the first half of 2023, which is expected to be between 15 percent and 17 percent, was down from the same period in 2022, when it was 25 percent.

Facilities ended in the red by 4.1 percent after announcing Monday that it has entered into a business partnership with Re Mago, with the aim of providing the Mago software solution to companies looking to revolutionize the meetings experience, whether remote or in-person.

TrenDevice closed on top with a 12 percent rise after it reported preliminary revenues of EUR8.1 million in the first half, down 15 percent from EUR9.6 million in the same period of 2022.

Clabo, on the other hand, ends among the worst performers and gives up 5.3 percent. On Friday it released its results for the first half of the year during which net sales of EUR32.9 million were reported and were up 20 percent from the first half of 2022-when they were EUR27.3 million-thanks to good revenue performance in North America and Asia.

Marzocchi Pompe gave up 1.0 percent after reporting Monday that it had finalized the purchase of a second property in Zola Predosa, following the one it took over in October last year.

In New York, the Dow Jones is up 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq is up 0.2 percent, and the S&P 500 is in the green by 0.4 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.1075 against USD1.1121 in Friday's European stock close while the pound is worth USD1.2821 from USD1.2852 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD82.38 per barrel versus USD80.51 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,959.55 an ounce from USD1,960.00 an ounce Friday night.

On Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar, July business expectations and the ifo index on German business confidence are scheduled from Germany at 1000 CEST, along with an assessment of the current German situation.

Also at 1000 CEST, the ECB bank lending survey is scheduled while at 1200 CEST, the 15-year gilt auction will be held.

At 1430 CEST, manufacturing sales are expected from Canada while at 1500, the Housing Price Index and the S&P/CS HPI Composite Index will come out from the US.

An hour later, the consumer confidence report will arrive and at 2230 CEST, the weekly oil stocks.

In Piazza Affari, the half-year results of Acea, Edison, Franchi Umberto Marmi, and UniCredit are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News senior reporter

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