(Alliance News) - European stock markets are headed for a downward opening on Friday, as caution prevails late in the week and investors continued to assess the global economic and interest rate outlook.

The FTSE Mib, therefore, is expected to be just below par after closing Thursday in the green by 0.3 percent at 29,235.71.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is expected down 24.4 points or 0.3 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is expected to open down 8.3 points or 0.1 percent while Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected down 4.8 points, just below par.

In the morning, the German Federal Statistical Office reported that Germany's economy contracted marginally by 0.1 percent in the third quarter of 2023, reversing the 0.1 percent growth observed in the previous three months.

From Japan, on the other hand, the Cabinet Office let it be known that consumer inflation rose 2.9 percent year-on-year in October, following a reduction in subsidies for electricity and gas bills, government data showed on Friday.

Among Italy's smaller lists last night, the Mid-Cap gave up 0.1 percent to 41,581.48, the Small-Cap finished just above par at 25,780.42, and Italy Growth rose 0.4 percent to 7,856.21.

On the main list of Piazza Affari Leonardo closed up 0.8 percent, rearing its head after two bearish sessions.

Enel -- down 0.1 percent -- announced Thursday that its CEO and managing director, Flavio Cattaneo, has taken over one million shares through a wholly owned subsidiary of him at an average price of EUR6.3996 each and a consideration of EUR6.3 million.

Cattaneo now holds 2.5 million shares with a total value of EUR16 million.

Eni rose 1.4 percent. The company reported that, with its partner Petroci, it successfully started production from Baleine in August this year, achieving a time-to-market of less than two years from the giant discovery.

Oil production from Baleine stands at 20,000 barrels per day, far exceeding the 12,000 barrels per day originally planned. The project is expected to reach its plateau of 50,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of 2024, with the completion of the second phase of development; full development of the field is expected to produce up to 150,000 barrels per day.

Banco BPM -- up 0.4 percent -- reported that it has successfully completed a new senior preferred social issue with a four-year maturity in the amount of EUR500 million. The issue is the group's first full investment grade. Orders, amounting to more than EUR2 billion, exceeded four times the amount issued, with the participation of more than 150 investors, confirming the increasing recognition by investors in the Banco BPM name. About 90 percent of the allocated orders had an ESG connotation.

The bond was issued at a price of 99.818 percent and pays a fixed coupon of 4.625 percent. The bond, which is reserved for institutional investors, was issued under the bank's Euro Medium Term Notes Program.

The tail end of the list, however, is for Prysmian, which gave up 1.5 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, MFE-MediaForEurope did best of all after announcing Thursday that in the first nine months of the year it reported consolidated net income of EUR71.0 million from EUR78.5 million in the same period last year.

As of Sept. 30, consolidated revenues stood at EUR1.86 billion, down from EUR1.90 billion in the first nine months 2022. Ebit in the period was EUR98.3 million from EUR97.6 million as of September 30, 2022. MFE's class A shares closed up 7.2 percent while class B shares gained 6.2 percent.

Fincantieri - in the red by 0.9 percent - announced that it has signed a 10-year contract with the Armament Authority of the Ministry of Defense of the Arab Republic of Egypt for two Fremm units of In-Service Support and Integrated Logistic Support, i.e., preventive maintenance services, logistic studies and corrective maintenance on demand, worth about EUR260 million.

LU-VE, on the other hand, contracted 1.5 percent after declining 0.7 percent on the eve.

On the Small-Cap, Restart closed on par at EUR0.22 per share after eve's loss of 2.3 percent.

Aquafil gave up 0.9%. The company presented its 2023-2025 strategic plan on Tuesday, reporting, for the period, a forecast for sales volume growth.

However, for fiscal year 2023, in terms of volumes, a negative change of between 3 percent and 4 percent from the previous year is expected. Expected Ebitda for FY 2023 is in the range of EUR45-50 million while adjusted Ebitda from this effect is in the range of EUR68-70 million.

Cellularline - flat at EUR2.34 - on Wednesday announced that it has authorized a buyback plan for 1.0 million shares corresponding to about 4.6 percent of the share capital and for a maximum amount of EUR3 million.

Among SMEs, Fope closed flat at EUR27.20, with the weekly gain amounting to 15 percent.

Almawave--up 1.8 percent--reported that its subsidiary The Data Appeal Company has signed a binding agreement to acquire 70 percent of the share capital of Mabrian Technologies, a company based in Spain--Minorca and Barcelona--active in the development of solutions in the Travel and Destination Intelligence fields and focused on innovative data analytics and decision intelligence AI KPI's.

The deal involves The Data Appeal's purchase of 70 percent, in cash, of Mabrian's share capital. The price paid, amounting to approximately EUR3.7 million, was agreed on the basis of an enterprise value of EUR6.1 million and will be subject to adjustment on the date of closing on the basis of the Final Net Financial Position. The deal also provides for the possible recognition of an earn-out, amounting to a maximum of EUR1.5 million, upon the achievement of specific outstanding economic and financial performance, to be recognized following the approval of the 2023 financial statements.

Convergenze, on the other hand, closed 9.0 percent in the red at EUR1.31 per share before going into a volatility auction, with the stock subject to profit taking after three sessions of major gains.

In Asia, the Nikkei finished in the green by 0.5 percent to 33,625.53, the Hang Seng was down 0.9 percent to 17,577.00 and the Shanghai Composite closed in the red by 0.7 percent to 3,040.97.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0904 against USD1.0905 recorded at Thursday's European equities close, while the pound was worth USD1.2533 from USD1.2531 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD81.48 per barrel from USD80.97 per barrel at yesterday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,993.10 an ounce from USD1,991.65 an ounce Thursday evening.

Friday's macroeconomic calendar has the ifo index on German business confidence coming in at 1000 CET.

In the US, where markets will close at 1300 local due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the manufacturing PMI will be released at 1545 CET, along with the services PMI.

Among companies listed on the stock market, DHH's results are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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