Mib rises to 27,400; banks lead the way

(Alliance News) - On Tuesday, major European stock markets finished higher despite the outlook that interest rate hikes by major central banks will continue as long as necessary.

In this regard, ECB President Christine Lagarde told the ECB forum that inflation in the euro area is too high and is likely to remain so for too long. For this reason, the central bank will not be able to declare-at least any time soon-that peak rates have been reached.

As for the Federal Reserve, in the CME Group platform's FedWatch Tool, using futures also based on the actual federal funds rate, or EFFR, the confirmation of the rate at the July 26 meeting has a 20 percent probability for confirmation in the 500/525 bps range. In contrast, the 25 bps rise in the 525/550 bps target is priced at 80%.

Thus, the FTSE Mib closed up 0.6 percent at 27,401.09.

Among the smaller listings, the Mid-Cap rallied 0.1 percent to 41,953.54, the Small-Cap closed in the red 0.4 percent to 26,646.34, and Italy Growth closed flat at 9,014.29.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 advanced 0.5 percent, London's FTSE 100 picked up 0.2 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX took home 0.3 percent.

On the main index in Piazza Affari, good performance by the banking sector. Among them, Poste Italiane posted a 2.4 percent rise, BPER Banca rallied 1.9 percent, while Banco BPM put up 1.7 percent.

Also doing well was UniCredit--up 1.4 percent--which announced Tuesday that it had purchased 2.8 million of its own ordinary shares for a total value of EUR57.1 million.

Saipem, on the other hand, rallied 0.8 percent after announcing that it has been awarded two new contracts in offshore drilling, one in the Middle East and one in the Mediterranean Sea with a total value of about USD550 million.

Among the few bearish performers is DiaSorin, which gave up 4.4 percent. The stock traded high, with more than 340,000 changed hands compared to a three-month daily average of about 162,000.

On the Mid-Cap, good session for Saras, which brought home 6.2 percent by rearing its head after three bearish sessions.

Industrie de Nora, on the other hand, advanced 2.4 percent. On the stock it is mentioned that Marble Bar Asset Management cut its short to 0.96 percent from 1.08 percent previously.

Brembo, on the other hand, advanced 0.9%, rebounding after six straight sessions in which selling prevailed.

Iren - up 1.1% - on Monday reported that its subsidiary, Iren Green Generation, signed a contract with European Energy to acquire 100 percent of SPV - special purpose vehicle - Limes 20 Srl, wholly owned by European Energy and holder of the authorization to build a new 20.39 MWp photovoltaic plant on land located in the municipalities of Noto and Pachino, Sicily. This transaction is part of the commercial agreement, signed in January 2022, which establishes a partnership between European Energy and Iren on a pipeline of 437.5 MWp of photovoltaic projects in Italy.

Maire Tecnimont surrendered 0.6 percent after it reported that its subsidiaries, part of the Integrated E&C Solutions business unit, Tecnimont and Tecnimont Arabia Limited were awarded two lump-sum turn-key EPC contracts related to the petrochemical expansion of the SATORP refinery-a JV composed of Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies-in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The petrochemical plant will enable the conversion of refinery gas and naphtha, as well as ethane and natural gasoline, into higher value-added chemicals. The total value of the contracts is approximately USD2 billion.

Juventus FC, on the other hand, gave up 3.2 percent, closing for the third session in a row on the bearish side.

On the Small-Cap segment, Tesselis closed higher, marking a plus 8.6 percent and bringing the price to EUR0.39.

Softlab, on the other hand, rallied 2.2 percent after the previous two bearish sessions.

Itway, on the other hand, closed down 2.9 percent. The company reported Monday that KT&Partners initiated coverage of the company's stock with a 'buy' recommendation. KT&Partners set the target price at EUR2.01, a potential upside of 58 percent from current market prices.

Among SMEs, CrowdFundMe gave up 8.7 percent, on the heels of the negative - with the same percentage - of the eve.

Destination Italia gave up 5.8 percent, after it reported on Monday that the group had reached the value of about EUR35 million in terms of the order book of tourism bookings in the first 5 months of the year, marking a 150 percent increase over May 31, 2022.

On a positive note, Allcore closed up 6.3 percent, marking its third session among the bullish.

High quarters also for High Quality Food, which posted a plus 4.9% ,following up Monday's green with 3.0%.

Revo Insurance closed flat at EUR17.25. The company announced Tuesday that S&P Global Ratings raised its rating outlook from stable to positive and simultaneously confirmed its BBB+ rating.

In New York, the Dow Jones, the S&P, while the Nasdaq.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the red by 0.5 percent to 32,5538.33, the Shanghai Composite finished in the green by 1.2 percent to 3,189.44, and the Hang Seng closed up 1.9 percent to 19,148.13.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0955 against USD1.0912 in Monday's European equities close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2745 from USD1.2719 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD73.28 per barrel versus USD73.80 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,915.12 an ounce from USD1,926.92 an ounce on Monday evening.

On Wednesday's calendar, at 1000 CEST will come Italy's industrial producer prices, along with the Eurozone money supply figure. At 1100 CEST, it will be the turn of Italian inflation, followed ten minutes later by an auction of six-month BOTs. At 1200 CEST, space will be given to Italian industrial sales. At 1200 CEST, Lane from the ECB will speak.

At 1330 CEST, from the U.S., focus on the mortgage market report while, at 1530 CEST, there will be speeches by Ferome Powell of the Fed and Andrew Bailey of the Bank of England. At 1630 CEST, the crude oil stocks figure will be released, along with Cushing's inventory and EIA's weekly inventories. At 1700 CEST, it will be the turn of ECB President Christine Lagarde's speech.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, no particular events are on the calendar.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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