(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari -- as well as other European stock markets -- is expected to open slightly up Friday, with risk appetite improving slightly after a difficult week for markets, with traders grappling with numerous corporate half-yearly reports.

"Coming to the end of the week, month and quarter, it has not been an exceptional quarter for equity markets. There was a significant change in sentiment over the summer as economic data deteriorated," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

In Piazza Affari, the FTSE Mib, marks a 45.50-point rise, after closing Thursday up 0.5 percent to 28,163.03.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 advances 20.00 points, Paris' CAC 40 advances 19.00 points, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 advances 68.00 points.

Last night, among the smaller lists, the Mid-Cap rose 0.5 percent to 39,185.10, the Small-Cap fell 0.2 percent to 25,491.82, and Italy Growth fell 0.7 percent to 8,261.83.

On the main list of Piazza Affari last night, Pirelli lost 1.8%, with new price at EUR4.56 per share, in its sixth straight session on the downside.

Telecom Italia lost 2.5 percent after reporting that its board has granted KKR an extension to submit a binding bid for the network until October 15. KKR will submit a bid together with the Ministry of Economy, as previously announced.

Inwit, on the other hand, is down 1.1 percent, in its fourth straight session on the bearish side. On the stock it is mentioned that Barclays on Tuesday raised the target to EUR13.70 from EUR13.50 with 'overweight' title.

Still on the bearish side, Amplifon lost 1.7 percent.

Bullish thrust, on the other hand, on Saipem, which rose 0.8 percent on the back of the bullish trend - up more than 4 percent when considered on a weekly basis - in the price of a barrel and following up eve's 1.6 percent rise.

On the Mid-Cap, Danieli & C. - up 3.4 percent - reported that it closed the 2022-2023 fiscal year with revenues up year-on-year to EUR4.10 billion from EUR3.62 billion in the previous year. The stock fluctuated upward by 1.8 percent.

The board proposed the distribution of a dividend of EUR0.31 for ordinary shares -- worth a total of EUR11.6 million -- and EUR0.3307 for savings shares, worth EUR12.1 million. Last year, the company distirbuted a dividend of EUR0.2793 for savings shares and one of EUR0.30 for ordinary shares.

Banca Popolare di Sondrio rose 1.5% after three sessions among the bearish. Unipol -- up 0.4 percent on the Mib -- announced that it has positively completed the purchase of 46.3 million ordinary shares in the bank, equivalent to about 10.2 percent of its share capital, through a reverse accelerated bookbuilding procedure aimed exclusively at qualified investors and foreign institutional investors.

The consideration for the purchase of shares under the RABB is EUR5.10 per share, for a total outlay of about EUR235.6 million. Settlement of the RABB will take place on October 2.

Badly Digital Value, which stood at the tail end of the convoy giving up 6.0%, closing for the sixth session in a row on a bearish trend.

On the Small-Cap, Olidata lost 10 percent, down for the sixth session in a row.

Sales also on Bialetti, which was down 4.4% at EUR0.2860. On the stock it is mentioned that Bialetti Holding bought 315,000 ordinary shares in the company. The shares were taken over at an average price per share of EUR0.2830 or so, for a total value of EUR89,000 or so.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale--up 0.2 percent--reported that it had approved the group's interim report, which closed with net income for the first half of the year of EUR23.6 million, compared with a net loss of EUR19.8 million in the first half of 2022. Revenues were EUR280.3 million compared to EUR236.1 million in the corresponding period of 2022.

Softlab's board of directors -- up 3.6 percent -- approved the half-year financial report as of June 30, which closed with a profit of nearly EUR1.5 million compared to EUR1.3 million a year earlier in the same period. Revenues amounted to EUR11.8 million, a figure that was almost stable on the previous year in the same period.

Among SMEs, good buying was also seen on Pharmacosmo, which posted plus 1.2 percent after three sessions closed among the bearish.

Energy's board of directors - down 4.0 percent - approved the half-year financial report as of June 30, which closed with a net profit of EUR5.5 million, or 14 percent of revenues, down from the same period in 2022 when it was EUR10.7 million, or 20.0 percent of revenues. Sales revenue was EUR39.3 million, down 26 percent, compared to EUR53.3 million in the first half of 2022.

Alfonsino's board -- down 2.8 percent -- approved the half-year financial report as of June 30, which closed with a net loss of EUR800,000 compared to the noted loss of EUR2.0 million in the same period last year. Revenues from sales and services stood at about EUR2.33 million, up 3 percent from June 30, 2023.

In New York, the Dow rallied 0.4 percent, the Nasdaq 0.8 percent, and the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent.

Among Asian exchanges, the NIkkei gave up 0.1 percent, while the Hang Seng is rising 2.7 percent, with the Chinese market, however, closed for holidays.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0588 against USD1.0564 on Thursday's European stock close, while the pound is worth USD1.2238 from USD1.2201 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD92.88 per barrel versus USD96.09 per barrel at Thursday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,867 an ounce from USD1,868.47 an ounce on Thursday evening.

On Thursday's macro calendar, from the U.S., trade bliance and PCE data are due at 1430 CEST.

Also on Friday, there are about 60 results expected in the Piazza Affari, with Ambromobiliare, Borgosesia, Iniziative Bresciane and Itway releasing accounts, among others.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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