Mib at 30,900 after positive unemployment data

(Alliance News) - On Wednesday, major European stock markets continue trading mixed, with Milan doing best of all after the release of unemployment data.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is in the green by 0.9 percent at 30,900.49, the Mid-Cap rises 0.3 percent to 45,578.60, as does the Small-Cap at 27,763.55, while Italy Growth is on the parity threshold at 8,313.44.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is on the parity threshold, London's FTSE 100 is in the fractional red, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 gives up 0.1 percent.

In macroeconomic news, Italy's unemployment rate dropped to 7.2 percent from 7.4 percent in November.

Employment rose 0.1 percent and covers 14,000 among men, term employees, the self-employed, and those under 34, while it fell among women, permanent employees, and those at least 35 years old. The employment rate rose to 62 percent in December.

In Germany, unemployment rose in January but remained stable on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Germany's unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent in January from 5.7 percent in December and 5.7 percent in January 2023, the agency said.

Back in Milan, on the Mib Saipem rebounds and rises 2.8 percent after giving up more than 12 percent Tuesday. The company confirmed an incident on the pipelaying vessel Castorone off Australian waters during normal pipelaying operations.

"The incident caused no injuries to personnel and there was some localized damage to the main line which will be remedied. The vessel Castorone was not seriously damaged. The health and safety of our personnel, the environment and our assets are a top priority for Saipem," reads the note released by the company.

On the podium and among the best on the list are banks: BPM rises 2.5 percent, BPER gains 2.7 percent, UniCredit picks up 2.7 percent.

Among the bearers are Pirelli % C which gives up 2.3%, Inwit which leaves 0.6% on the parterre, and STMicroelectronics which loses 0.5%.

ERG reverses course and rises 0.5 percent after announcing the finalization of the acquisition from QEnergy France SAS, a leading renewable energy operator in France, of 100 percent of CEPE Renouvellement Haut Cabardès SAS, a company that owns a 73.2 MW wind and solar portfolio in France.

The finalization of this transaction allows ERG to consolidate its position in France, its second largest market after Italy, reaching 674 MW of installed capacity in the country, about 20 percent of which is composed of solar.

Moncler, down 0.4 percent, and Brunello Cucinelli, down 0.5 percent, also remain down.

On the Mid-Cap, Salvatore Ferragamo rises 0.8 percent. In recent days it reported preliminary results for 2023, with revenues coming in at EUR1.16 billion from EUR1.25 billion in the previous year and therefore down 7.6 percent.

Safilo Group gains 6.1 percent after reporting preliminary net sales for the last quarter of 2023 of EUR238.7 million from EUR245.4 million in the same period of 2022, representing growth of 1.7 percent at constant exchange rates and a decline of 2.7 percent at current exchange rates, and 3.3 percent net of sales in the former GrandVision chains.

For the full year, preliminary net sales amounted to EUR1.02 billion down from EUR1.08 billion in 2022.

Maire Tecnimont - up 0.2 percent - on Tuesday announced that NextChem, through its subsidiary NextChem Tech, has signed a contract with Paul Wurth SA, an SMS group company, and Norsk e-Fuel AS for a licensing and engineering package related to NX CPO technology to be used in the first industrial-scale plant capable of producing SAF from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide in Mosjoen, Norway.

This will be the first plant developed by Norwegian Norsk e-Fuel AS, a project development company backed by a group of shareholders, including Paul Wurth.

On the Small-Cap, Elica - flat at EUR2.30 per share - announced Tuesday that it had signed a partnership with the Ducati racing team, ahead of the start of the 2024 MotoGP world championship.

Biesse - up 0.2 percent - on Monday announced that, as the conditions precedent stipulated in the acquisition agreement had been met, the acquisition of the entire share capital of GMM Finance Srl, the holding company at the head of the GMM Group to which GMM Spa, Bavelloni Spa and Techni Waterjet Ltd, as well as their respective Italian and foreign subsidiaries, active in the sectors of machine tools for processing stone, glass and other materials, belonged.

The provisional acquisition consideration of approximately EUR69 million was fully settled in cash starting from an enterprise value of EUR86.5 million and taking into account a Net Debt Financial Position.

Aeffe gives up 0.6 percent the day after announcing that Adrian Appiolaza is Moschino's new creative director.

Among SMEs, Comal -- in the green by 0.8 percent -- on Wednesday reported that it signed a nearly EUR3.0 million contract for the turnkey EPC-M formula supply of a photovoltaic plant in southern Italy.

TraWell Co gains 1.2%. The company on Tuesday announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide baggage protection services at the New Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru for seven years.

Trawell Co. operates through its wholly owned subsidiary Safe Bag Latam Peru, the provision of its integrated traveler assistance services at the existing international terminal in Lima until December 2024.

Digital Value -- flat at EUR65.00 per share -- reported Tuesday that preliminary consolidated revenues as of Dec. 31 were EUR849.5 million, an increase of EUR141.0 million over 2022.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the green 0.6 percent to 36,286.71, while the Hang Seng was in the red 1.4 percent to 15,485.07, and the Shanghai Composite gave up 1.5 percent to 2,788.55.

In New York on Tuesday, the Dow Jones closed in the green by 0.4 percent at 38,467.31, the S&P finished down 0.1 percent at 4,924.97, and the Nasdaq closed down 0.8 percent at 15,509.90.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0829 against USD1.0840 recorded in Tuesday's European equities close while the pound was worth USD1.2671 from USD1.2669 on Tuesday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD81.56 per barrel versus USD82.45 per barrel at Tuesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,055.30 an ounce from USD2,032.51 an ounce on Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday's calendar at 1200 CET Italian industrial sales are released, while at 1300 CET the US mortgage market report will be released. At 1400 CET, on the other hand, the CPI from Germany will be released.

At 1630 CET, from the US, it will be the turn of the crude oil stocks figure, the EIA report and the Cushing inventory.

At 2000 CET, however, there will be the FOMC decision on the interest rate.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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