Indices in the red, energy hurt on Mib.

(Alliance News) - European markets continued to lose ground Tuesday in mid-session, continuing with the bearish sentiment seen in Asia overnight.

The wind of relief brought by last weekend's positive developments on U.S. federal funding is slowly evaporating, carried away by monetary policy fears after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at further tightening before the end of the year in a speech yesterday.

"With inflation concerns and the prospect of further interest rate hikes back in the spotlight, market sentiment remains under pressure. Investors tend to limit exposure to equities when uncertainty increases," commented Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades.

"In the late afternoon, more volatility is likely with the U.S. JOLTS report for August and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic's speech on the economic outlook and rising price pressure."

The FTSE Mib is in the red 0.2 percent to 27,788.94, the Mid-Cap is down 0.3 percent to 39,303.39, the Small-Cap is in the red 0.5 percent to 25,613.21 while Italy Growth is just below par at 8,225.40.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is down 0.1 percent to 7,063.94, Frankfurt's DAX 40 gives up 0.2 percent to 15,222.57 while London's FTSE 100 is up 0.3 percent to 7,531.38.

On the main list of the Italian stock exchange, at the bottom is Enel, in the red by 2.2 percent. Also hurting is Eni, down 0.5 percent, along with energy companies such as ERG, which leaves 1.8 percent on the parterre, A2A, in the red by 0.8 percent, and Terna, down 0.1 percent.

Eni has been struggling since yesterday despite announcing a major gas discovery from the Geng North-1 well drilled in the North Ganal license, about 85 km off the east coast of Kalimantan, Indonesia. Preliminary estimates indicate total volumes of 5 trillion cubic feet of gas-equivalent to about 140 billion cubic meters-with condensate content up to about 400 million barrels. The data acquired will allow the study of options for accelerated development.

Among oils, Saipem did well, gaining 1.3 percent.

Leading the list is Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, up 2.9 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, few stocks are up, including Brunello Cucinelli, which gains 1.9 percent. Goldman Sachs gives the stock a 'buy' rating with a target price at EUR87.00.

The rest of the fashion sector is down, with Salvatore Ferragamo leaving 2.1 percent on the parterre and Tod's losing 3.1 percent, placing it at the bottom of the basket.

Piaggio & C--up 0.7 percent--reported Wednesday that it had successfully placed a EUR250.0 million senior high-yield bond maturing in seven years.

The bond has a fixed annual interest rate of 6.5 percent and an issue price of 100 percent.

On the Small-Cap, SAES Getters gives up 0.3 percent after announcing Monday the closing of the transaction to sell the Nitinol business to the U.S. company Resonetics and, in particular, its U.S. subsidiaries Memry Corporation and SAES Smart Materials. The divestment price is USD900 million.

Safilo Group drops 0.7 percent. The company announced Friday that contracts have been signed for the sale of business units related to the Longarone plant to sector companies Thélios and Innovatek. The closing of the transactions, subject to the fulfillment of conditions precedent, is scheduled for late October.

Pierrel--in parity--reported Monday that it has obtained marketing authorization in Algeria for its Articaine-based dental anesthetic, Orabloc in the 1:100,000 formulation.

Bioera goes down 3.5 percent. The company reported that it ended the first half with revenues of EUR0.0 million compared to EUR400,000 in the first half of 2022. The net result shows a loss of EUR1.6 million compared to a loss of EUR1.2 million in the first half of 2022; the net result was affected by a EUR900,000 charge from the valuation of the group's stake in Splendor Investments SA, which was put into liquidation after June 30 following the sale of the only asset it held.

Among SMEs, Deodato.Gallery is still not trading, after announcing the opening of two new exhibition spaces in Padua.

No trading either for Pattern, which announced Monday that it had finalized the sale to Burberry Italy of the business unit of the Turin plant dedicated to the design and production of Burberry brand products.

Contrary to what was announced last March 28, the price paid today to Pattern was EUR22.4 million, following a preliminary adjustment of the base price of EUR21 million based on a provisional estimate of the business' commercial working capital and Net Financial Position.

Doxee is unchanged after reporting that it closed the first half with a net loss of EUR3.2 million from net income of EUR300,000 in the same period last year. Revenues were EUR12.1 million, up from EUR11.1 million as of June 30, 2022. Infinica contributed EUR1.8 million to consolidated revenue generation.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 1.6 percent to 31,237.94 and the Hang Seng lost 2.7 percent to 17,331.22 as Shanghai was closed for a national holiday.

In New York, the Dow closed down 0.2 percent at 33,433.35, the Nasdaq rose 0.7 percent to 13,307.77 while the S&P 500 finished in a tie at 4,288.39.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0486 against USD1.0507 in Monday's European equities close while the pound was instead worth USD1.2080 from USD1.2139 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD90.78 per barrel from USD90.93 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,826.54 an ounce from USD1,832.31 an ounce on Monday evening.

On Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar, Italy's trade balance is scheduled to be released at 1200 CEST.

From the US, at 1400 CEST, focus on FOMC member Bostic's speech while, at 1730 CEST, a 52-week Treasury bond auction is scheduled. Finally, at 2230 CEST, the weekly oil stocks data will be due.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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