(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed sharply lower on Wednesday, with declines in industrials canceling out the few gains in banking and financial stocks, on a day marked by several macro data releases for the major euro area economies.

Italian inflation slowed sharply on an annual basis in May, thanks to a slowdown in unregulated energy prices, Istat reported Wednesday.

Consumer prices in Italy rose 7.6 percent year-on-year in May after rising 8.2 percent in the previous month. The market had expected an acceleration to 9.2 percent.

Italy's Gross Domestic Product growth was revised upward by Istat for the first quarter, the national statistics office announced Wednesday.

Italy's economy grew 0.6 percent in the first quarter on a quarterly basis after falling 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Istat's initial figure was for a 0.5 percent increase.

On a year-over-year basis, GDP rose 1.9 percent after a 1.4 percent increase in the fourth quarter and with Istat expecting 1.8 percent growth.

In Germany, as reported by Destatis, consumer price inflation slowed to 6.1 percent year-on-year in May from 7.2 percent in the previous month and below market expectations of 6.5 percent, according to a preliminary estimate.

May's inflation rate represents the lowest level since March 2022, partly due to slower increases in energy and food prices.

In Milan, the FTSE Mib closed Wednesday down 2.0 percent to 26,051.33, the Mid-Cap fell 0.5 percent to 41,801.04, the Small-Cap closed down 1.2 percent to 27,064.57, and Italy Growth fell 0.3 percent to 9,085.43.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 lost 1.0 percent, Paris' CAC 40 fell 1.5 percent as did Frankfurt's DAX 40.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, Fineco and Monte dei Paschi closed up 1.0 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, and Nexi followed with 0.9 percent gains. Almost everything else in the Mib, however, is in the red.

Leading the declines are industrial stocks, with Prysmian losing ground--closing down 4.2%--despite good comments from analysts on the change at the top, with the CEO, Valerio Battista, not standing for reappointment next year, leaving his place to the desgined Massimo Battaini.

While Italian analysts confirmed their targets and recommendations on Prysmian, Goldman raised its guidance on adjusted Ebitda to EUR1.53 billion for 2023 and EUR1.57 billion for 2024 and expects the company to improve its guidance on the same indicator for 2023 to EUR1.40-1.60 billion from EUR1.38- 1.53 billion and that on free cash flow to EUR470-600 million from EUR450-550 million.

Also hurt were Leonardo, down 4.1 percent, Stellantis, down 3.5 percent, and Pirelli & C., down 3.1 percent at the end of the session.

Among banks, Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit standout, down 2.5 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

Enel leaves 2.6 percent on the parterre after, according to anonymous sources in Bloomberg News, CEO, Flavio Cattaneo, is reportedly considering appointing new top management at the company, with possible replacement of Chief Financial Officer, Alberto De Paoli, in favor of Stefano De Angelis, former CEO of TIM Brasil.

An Enel spokesperson indicated that no decisions have been made at this time regarding appointments or changes in the company's top management.

On the Mid-Cap, the construction of the third next-generation submarine related to the Navy's U212NFS - Near Future Submarine program and awarded to Fincantieri - down 3.0 percent - has received parliamentary approval and will now continue the usual administrative process.

The program, which includes two vessels contracted in 2021, also includes related in-service support and the construction of the Training Center, and is managed by OCCAR - Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'Armement, the international armaments cooperation organization.

Worse off are Credito Emiliano - whose holding company bought nearly EUR3 million worth of shares yesterday - and MFE's A shares, in the red by 3.6 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.

Among small-cap companies, algoWatt closed at a breakeven after announcing the conclusion of the technical activities of the Efficacity project, worth a total of about EUR2.0 million.

Tesmec gave up 1.3 percent after subsidiary Tesmec Rail and koda Group signed a cooperation agreement for green and innovative solutions in the rail market.

Tesmec Rail and koda Group announce the signing of a collaboration agreement aimed at technological cooperation in the field of railway equipment and diagnostic vehicles to develop high-performance and sustainable products. This collaboration expresses the strong interest of both companies to expand their business through business partnership and solid synergy.

Digital Value gained 0.8 percent. The company announced that a well-known public entity has awarded its subsidiary Italware, in RT with the company Eurolink, the final effective award of a "Strategic Contract for Oracle SaaS- PaaS Cloud Services" and specialized support, worth approximately EUR8.0 million.

The agreement, with a duration of 36 months, renewable for an additional 12, is aimed at facilitating the modernization of infrastructure and, as a priority, the migration to the Cloud of the back office applications of the Institution's Instrumental Area, which are currently on an Oracle on premise platform.

Among the SMEs listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, RES - Sustainable Ethical Recovery lost 0.9 percent after reporting that the value of production rose to EUR17.9 million in 2022 from EUR16.1 million in the previous year.

Adjusted Ebitda fell to EUR3.3 million from EUR4.6 million, with the margin dropping to 18.5 percent from 28.4 percent. In contrast, non-pro forma Ebitda is EUR1.6 million, with margin of 7.2%. Adjusted net income is EUR1.4 million, down slightly from EUR1.5 million in the previous year. The non-pro forma figure shows net income of EUR1.4 million.

H-Farm's board Tuesday night approved the half-year report as of Feb. 28, showing a consolidated loss of EUR3.3 million compared to EUR17.7 million a year earlier in the same period.

Consolidated management production value for the 6 months was EUR18.5 million with a negative management Ebitda of EUR2.3 million. In contrast, the previous year was EUR45.1 million. Holding company revenues totaled EUR3.7 million with a negative Ebitda contribution of EUR500,000. The stock closed Wednesday up 1.0 percent.

In New York, the Dow is down 0.8 percent to 32,769.80, the Nasdaq gives up 0.6 percent to 12,936.28 and the S&P 500 flexes 0.8 percent to 4,171.57.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0660 versus USD1.0723 at Tuesday's European equities close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2393 from USD1.2407 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD72.96 per barrel versus USD74.27 per barrel last night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,970.66 an ounce from USD1,961.39 an ounce Tuesday night.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar includes the release of manufacturing PMIs from Japan and China at 0230 CEST and 0345 CEST, respectively, and then from Sagna, Italy, Germany, France, the Eurozone and the UK between 0915 CEST and 1030 CEST. That of the US will come in the afternoon, at 1600 CEST.

For the Eurozone, eyes are also on inflation, which will be released at 1100 CEST. In the morning, Italian unemployment data is also scheduled to be released at 1000 CEST, German retail sales at 0800 CEST, and the French government's budget balance at 0845 CEST.

In the US, focus also on jobless claims, due at 1430 CEST, and crude oil stocks data, due at 1700 CEST. The day will close with the Federal Reserve balance sheet and reserves data at the US central bank.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, no results are expected.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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