Mib in the red ahead of Italy's PPI data

(Alliance News) - On Tuesday, major European stock markets contravene expectations and open lower as Milan awaits the release of Italy's producer price index.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is in the red by 0.2 percent to 26,569.13, the Mid-Cap drops 0.1 percent to 42,131.74, the Small-Cap is in the green by 0.2 percent to 27,589.28, and Italy Growth is in fractional green at 9,123.90.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the red by 0.2 percent, as are Frankfurt's DAX and London's FTSE 100.

On the main index in Piazza Affari, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena takes the top spot and rises 1.3 percent. It is followed by STMicroelectonics, in the green by 0.8 percent, as is Telecom Italia.

Banco BPM -- down 1.0 percent -- announced Monday that it had exercised its option to buy 65 percent of Vera Vita Spa and Vera Assicurazioni Spa, provided for in agreements signed two years ago with Cattolica Assicurazioni.

As BPM explains, the transaction is part of the strategy "to strengthen the group's business model, which ? in line with the 2021-2024 strategic plan ? envisages the internalization of the Life insurance business, which has already started with the acquisition of the entire share capital of the company Banco BPM Vita from Covéa, and the activation of a strategic partnership with Crédit Agricole Assurances SA, a company of the Crédit Agricole SA group, in bancassurance, Non-Life and Protection sectors."

BPM will pay EUR332.5 million for 65 percent of the two Vera companies' own funds, net of T2 instruments, and a fixed component of EUR60 million.

Inwit -- in the green by 0.4 percent -- announced Monday that its shareholder-approved buyback program will start on May 30, from a maximum of 1.2 million own shares, equal to 0.1 percent of its share capital.

The plan has a duration of 18 months from the date of the shareholders' meeting that approved it, and the first tranche will cover up to a maximum of 67,000 ordinary shares of INWIT, and, taking as a reference the listing price of ordinary shares in the last session of the Italian Stock Exchange, the potential maximum countervalue of the buyback of the shares covered by the first tranche is estimated at around EUR800,000.

Eni - down 1.0 percent - announced Monday that it has signed an agreement with RINA, a multinational inspection, certification and engineering consultancy firm, with the aim of developing joint initiatives "to contribute to the process of energy transition and decarbonization of their respective activities with particular attention to the shipping sector, in which RINA and Eni will be able to enhance each other's expertise," according to the press note.

UniCredit -- down 0.7 percent -- announced Friday that it has expanded its partnership in payments with Mastercard, which enables the former to provide all cardholders with a first-class offering, with a simplified product proposition, an optimized digital experience with a full suite of in-app solutions, and the development of a dedicated approach to innovation, increasing payment choice for customers through multiple payment solutions.

On the cadet segment, Maire Tecnimont is in the red by 0.1 percent. The company announced Thursday that it has signed a new EUR40 million loan agreement with BPER Corporate & Investment Banking, assisted for 80 percent of the amount by a guarantee granted by SACE, in order to further strengthen the group's financial structure.

Juventus will not participate in the next Champions League with EUR80 million in lost revenue, but the stock after Monday's drop takes the top spot and rises 2.9%.

Autogrill also does well, rising 1.8%. The company approved the signing, as borrower, of a revolving, multi-currency, intercompany loan agreement, cd downstream, of up to EUR700 million with Dufry Financial Services, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Autogrill's controlling shareholder Dufry.

On Small-Cap, Tesmec - in the green by 2.4 percent - reported on Friday that Cerved Rating Agency, an Italian agency specializing in assessing the creditworthiness of non-financial companies, confirmed the company? "s "B1.2" solicited rating.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale--in the red by 0.7 percent--reported Thursday that its Trevi and Soilmec divisions were awarded contracts and orders worth a total of EUR216.2 million in the first four months of 2023. Thanks to these acquisitions, the group's order backlog as of April 2023 stands at EUR591 million.

Mondo TV--down 0.6 percent--reported Thursday that it has signed a new license with Sia All Media Latvia, a leading broadcaster operating in the Baltics, for the television broadcast of Agent 203 and Monster Loving Maniacs.

The series were co-produced by Mondo Tv with Toon2Tango, and the license includes the possibility of broadcasting the series for a period of three years.

Among SMEs, High Quality Food rises 9.4 percent. Last week the board approved two capital increases. The first is EUR533,600 and reserved for Francesco Paltoni, to be subscribed by contribution in kind of a 46 percent stake in the capital of HQF Agricola, with issuance of 456,068 new shares at a unit price of EUR1.17. The second is for a maximum of EUR3.0 million and reserved for institutional investors and strategic partners, to be subscribed in cash with issuance of a maximum of 2.7 million new shares, at a unit price of EUR1.11.

Casta Diva Group is in the green by 4.0 percent, after announcing Monday that it has approved its draft financial statements as of Dec. 31, 2022, in which revenues stood at EUR83.6 million, up 210 percent from EUR26.9 million in the same period last year. Value of production stood at EUR83.9 million, up 182% from EUR29.7 million. Profit is EUR1.8 million from EUR429,211 in 2021.

Imvest - in the green by 5.0 percent - announced that it has approved the draft financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, having reported sales revenue of EUR4.0 million from EUR2.8 million in the same period in 2021. Value of production is EUR4.6 million from EUR2.6 million in the same period of the previous year. The loss amounted to EUR1.2 million from one of EUR5.3 million in 2021.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the green by 0.3 percent at 31,328.16 and the Hang Seng was in the fractional red at 18,547.41, while the Shanghai Composite finished up 0.1 percent at 3,224.21.

In New York on Tuesday, the Dow Jones closed in the green 1.0 percent to 33,093.34, the S&P gained 1.3 percent to 4,205.45, while the Nasdaq was up 2.2 percent to 12,975.69.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0687 against USD1.0712 at Monday's European equities close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2350 from USD1.2356 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD76.62 per barrel versus USD76.48 per barrel on Monday evening. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,953.55 an ounce from USD1,946.75 an ounce on Monday evening.

On Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar, Italy's producer price index is due at 1000 CEST while, four hours later, it will be the turn of Germany's inflation. At 1100 CEST, focus on Italy's industrial sales data.

At 1100 CEST, space for consumer and business confidence indicators for the Eurozone. At 1110 CEST, there will be an auction of 5- and 10-year BTPs.

In the afternoon, in the US, at 1600 CEST, the consumer confidence report will be released while, at 1730 CEST, an auction of 3- and 6-month Treasury bonds will be held.

Among the companies in the Square of Business, the results of Ecosuntek, GO internet, H-farm and RES are coming up.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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