(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari continues to grind out gains and climbs higher and higher above 30,000 points, having kicked off another bullish day Wednesday.
The FTSE Mib rises 0.4 percent to 30,194.43, Mid-Cap is up 0.2 percent to 42,159.64, Small-Cap gains 0.4 percent to 26,391.96, and Italy Growth is up 0.3 percent to 8,023.29.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is up 0.3 percent to 7,510.89, Paris' CAC 40 is up 0.1 percent to 7,391.81 and Frankfurt's DAX 40 gains 0.1 percent to 16,557.01.
On the main list in Piazza Affari, Enel starts up 0.2 percent despite a downgrade by S&P Global Ratings, which maintained Enel Spa's short-term rating at 'A-2' and revised its long-term rating to 'BBB' from the previous level of 'BBB+'. The outlook is Stable.
The agency said the change in Enel's rating mainly reflects the level of the group's net financial debt, which peaked in 2022.
Telecom Italia rises 0.1 percent a few hours after reporting that Optics BidCo, a subsidiary of the U.S. fund KKR, has requested to extend the due diligence period on Sparkle until the end of January 2024.
The request was made so that it would have all the information needed to formulate a final offer. The TIM board will make a decision on this request on December 14.
Leonardo gains 0.1 percent. The defense blue chip will not participate in the potential capital increase announced by Hensoldt as part of its acquisition of German company ESG Elektroniksystem und Logistik, although it fully shares its strategic rationale.
"The European partnership project with Hensoldt remains confirmed, with the aim of pursuing ever greater collaboration and integration for the strengthening and consolidation of European capabilities in the Defense and Security Electronics sector in Europe," the company explained.
Just below par Eni, which signed a new EUR3 billion five-year sustainability-linked revolving credit facility linked to the achievement of two targets in its Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework updated in April. The new facility will further enhance the company's financial flexibility, complementing the similar EUR6 billion sustainability-linked credit facility signed in 2022.
On the Mid-Cap, Maire Tecnimont rises 2.0 percent after announcing Wednesday that its subsidiary Nextchem, through its subsidiary MyRechemical, which leads the Waste-to-Chemicals segment, has been selected by DG Fuels Louisiana to provide the Process Design Package for a SAF production plant currently under development in St. James Parish, Louisiana, US.
The plant, expected to be operational in 2028, will produce 350,000 tons per year of SAF derived from agricultural waste and refuse. MyRechemical has been selected as the technology licensor of the gasification and gas treatment units capable of processing 1,000,000 tons per year of sugarcane waste and the extraction residue from its processing. The process represents the first step in the production of SAF.
On the same list, of note is the 3.5 percent drop at the start of the session of OVS, which sees shares drop to EUR2.0460 and a volume of 900,000 pieces changed hands in a few minutes.
On the Small-Cap, Unieuro falls 1.3% after rising more than 11% last night. The company announced Monday that it had closed its acquisition of Covercare, a leading player in Italy in the market for cell phone repair services as well as air conditioner and boiler installation.
Bioera soars, up 20 percent after reporting that Canio Giovanni Mazzaro has resigned from the board. Mazzaro follows Domenico Torchia, who resigned in early November. The board was supplemented with the co-option of Giuseppe Farchione and Giorgio Campeggio.
In addition, Farchione was appointed chairman of the board while Campeggio is the company's new CEO.
Itway gives up 0.6 percent after yesterday's rise and after announcing Tuesday that subsidiary 4Science has signed a binding agreement to acquire a 60 percent stake in Seacom, an ICT player with more than 20 years of experience in open source innovation with significant expertise in Big Data architecture. Concurrent with the execution of the transaction is the expected subscription of a paid capital increase in the total amount of EUR450,000.
Among SMEs, GEL continues to post strong gains and, after yesterday's positive close, opens up 10 percent Wednesday morning.
Saccheria F.lli Franceschetti - up 4.4 percent after yesterday's gain of more than 15 percent - reported that the board has decided to call a shareholders' meeting to which it will submit the distribution of a dividend of EUR0.043 per share. If approved, the payment will take place on January 17, two days after the ex date and one day after the record date. The dividend yield is 4.1 percent from Monday's last closing share price.
In addition, the board will ask shareholders for approval to initiate a buyback program of up to 177,010 shares, for which it may invest no more than EUR400,000.
In Asia, the Nikkei closed Wednesday up 2.0 percent to 33,445.90, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.1 percent to 2,968.93, and the Hang Seng was up 0.8 percent to 16,463.26.
In New York at Tuesday's close, the Dow Jones fell 0.2 percent to 36,124.56, the S&P lost 0.1 percent to 4,567.18 while the Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent to 14,229.91.
Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0786 against USD1.0788 recorded at Tuesday's European stock close while the pound is worth USD1.2603 from USD1.2595 last night.
Brent crude is worth USD77.35 per barrel versus USD77.43 per barrel at Tuesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,034.47 an ounce from USD2,013.59 an ounce last night.
Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar includes construction PMIs. In fact, the one from Germany, Italy, France and the Eurozone will arrive at 0930 CET, followed at 1030 CET by the one from the United Kingdom. At 1100 CET, for the Eurozone, the retail sales figure will also be released.
At 1200 CET, in the UK, a speech by Bak of England Governor Bailey is scheduled.
From the US, at 1300 CET, room for the mortgage report, followed at 1430 CET by ADP data and the trade balance. At 1630 CET, there will be the release of crude oil stocks, EIA report and and Cushing's inventory.
At 1630 CET, from Canada, eyes on the Bank of Canada's announcement on the main interest rate.
Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, no particular announcements are expected.
By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter
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