(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed the last trading session of the week lower after both Christine Lagarde and Jerome Powell left the door open to further rate hikes by the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve.

Speaking at an event organized by the Financial Times, Lagarde acknowledged that "inflation has fallen massively." The latest data represent "a huge, huge change and one could argue that monetary policy has done its job," she said.

But he added that "a little humility also helps," explaining that everyone "recognizes that much of this downside has to do with energy prices."

Powell, on the other hand, said Thursday that the Federal Reserve stands ready, if necessary, to raise interest rates further to bring inflation back to its long-term goal of 2 percent.

"We know that continued progress toward our 2 percent goal is not assured: Inflation has given us a few bumps in the road," Powell told a conference in Washington. "If it is appropriate to tighten monetary policy further, we will not hesitate to do so.

The FTSE Mib closed Friday down 0.5 percent to 28,504.43, the Mid-Cap lost 0.8 percent to 40,680.77, the Small-Cap fell 0.8 percent to 25,346.72, and Italy Growth gave up 0.7 percent to 7,609.68.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed down 1.3 percent, Paris' CAC 40 lost 0.9 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 gave up 0.7 percent.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, CNH Industrial continued in contraction as seen since the bell rang, giving up 3.3 percent and continuing its bearish streak.

Campari also confirms the bearish trend, contracting 3.8% after a slight rise on the eve of the day.

Pirelli - down 1.4% - reported Thursday that its board of directors reviewed its consolidated results as of September 30, reporting a net profit of EUR168.4 million in the last quarter, 33% higher from EUR126.3 million in the third quarter of 2022.

Leonardo - up 4.7 percent, leading the list and among the few bullish performers of the day - reported Thursday that it ended the first nine months with orders of EUR13.28 billion, up 15 percent from EUR11.72 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Revenues increased to EUR10.27 billion from EUR9.92 billion a year earlier, thanks in part to a significant recovery in Aerostructures, up 32 percent from the first nine months of 2022, and the performance of Defense and Security Electronics. Revenues for the period rose to EUR1.72 billion from EUR1.84 billion million with organic growth of 2.2 percent excluding the exchange rate effect, which weighed 8.4 percent.

Unipol's board of directors -- up 0.3 percent -- approved consolidated results as of Sept. 30, closing with a profit with consolidated net income of EUR769 million, compared with consolidated net income of EUR854 million in the corresponding period last year. It should be noted that last year, as the company specifies, "reflected extraordinary items of approximately EUR275 million related to the pro-rata consolidation of BPER Banca. The figure for the first nine months 2022, restated for comparative purposes in application of the new principles, would be EUR495 million."

On the Mid-Cap, good session for illimity Bank, which rises 1.1 percent after publishing good nine-month accounts. The bank reported net income of EUR75.0 million from EUR50.6 million, up 58 percent from the same period a year earlier. As of Sept. 30, net interest income stood at EUR147.7 million, up 27 percent to EUR116.1 million in 2022.

It does better GVS, which gains 4.1 percent, on the heels of eve's 5.6 percent rise.

The board of Webuild--up 1.1 percent--reported Thursday that it recorded a record EUR22 billion in new orders in the first nine months of the year. Of these, more than EUR12.6 billion of the new orders came from abroad-Australia, the U.S. and the Middle East-while orders from Italy totaled EUR9.4 billion.

Antares, on the other hand, gave up 5.9 percent to EUR2.9550 per share, after two sessions closed higher, in which it accumulated a gain of 9 percent.

Ascopiave also hurt, down 3.0%. The board of directors approved the interim report as of September 30, closing with a consolidated net profit, amounting to EUR14.4 million, and showing a decrease compared to the same period last year, when it was EUR25.3 million. The Ascopiave Group closed the first nine months with consolidated revenues of EUR125.2 million, compared to EUR120.0 million recorded in the first nine months of 2022.

On the Small-Cap, Datalogic--down 12 percent--reported Thursday that it closed the first nine months with revenues down to EUR417.0 million from EUR476.5 million in the same period last year, with declines recorded in all geographic areas in which it operates.

Aquafil rises 1.1 percent after declining accounts released in the eve. First nine months loss, with a net loss of EUR17.1 million, which compares with a profit of EUR26.1 million in the same period last year.

Digital Bros -- down 1.7 percent -- announced Thursday that it closed the first quarter of fiscal 2023-2024 with a net loss of EUR3.1 million compared to a net profit of EUR3.1 million as of Sept. 30, 2022. Revenues for the first quarter amounted to EUR20.2 million, down 9.7 percent from EUR22.4 million in the same period of 2022.

On a positive note, SoftLab is up 4.6 percent to EUR1.4850, after eve's contraction of 5.9 percent.

Among SMEs, Convergenze gave up 9.3 percent, hitting a 52-week low of EUR1.37.

Svas Biosana--down 0.9 percent--reported Thursday that its revenues rose to EUR81.6 million from EUR69.5 million in the same period a year earlier.

Among the bullish, expert.ai rises 2.5 percent after an equal drop in the eve.

In New York, the Dow rises 0.1% to 33,933.70, the Nasdaq gains 0.4% to 13,573.32 and the S&P 500 is up 0.2% to 4,356.15.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0667 versus USD1.0708 recorded at Thursday's European stock close, while the pound is worth USD1.2193 from USD1.2273 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD81.11 per barrel from USD80.70 per barrel at yesterday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,944.50 an ounce from USD1,962.33 an ounce last night.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar includes China's private lending data coming in at 0900 CET, Spanish confidence in the morning, and the German current account at 1500 CET, five minutes after French three-, six-, and 12-month BTF auctions are held,

From the U.S., room for crude oil stocks data at 1630 CET and auctions of three- and six-month Treasury bonds.

Among the companies that will release data on Monday are Banca Generali, ERG, EuroGroup Laminations, and Unieuro, among others.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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