Mib rises to 28,300 area; Iveco leads the way

(Alliance News) - The Mib index moves in the green on Friday, bringing the point bar to the 28,300 level in line with other European exchanges. Trading rooms are closely monitoring the annual meeting of leading central bankers at the Jackson Hole symposium in the United States. Keynote speeches by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and ECB President Christine Lagarde will take center stage amid uncertainty over the future outlook for interest rates.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.4 percent to 28,317.95, Mid-Cap is up 0.4 percent to 41,200.87, Small-Cap is advancing 0.1 percent to 26,834.97, and Italy Growth is giving up 0.1 percent 8,828.10.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the green by 0.5 percent, while Frankfurt's DAX is up 0.3 percent as is London's FTSE 100.

On the blue chip list, Iveco Group is doing best of all with a 3.8 percent rise, with assets up more than 54 percent since the start of 2023.

Good buys also on Saipem, which moves ahead 1.4 percent, raising its head after three bearish sessions.

CNH Industrial, on the other hand, is picking up 1.2%, with new price at EUR12.04 per share. The company, which is continuing with its buyback plan, reported that it bought back its own ordinary shares between August 14 and 18, for a total value of EUR5.8 million.

Banks followed, with Banca Generali gaining 1.2 percent and Banca Mediolanum picking up 1.1 percent.

Among the bearers we see Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which marks a minus 0.7% with price at EUR2.51 and with weekly marking a loss of about 7.0%.

On the Mid-Cap, Zignago Vetro is picking up 2.6%, on the heels of eve's green with 0.1%.

Salcef Group -- in the green by 1.3% -- reported Wednesday that its subsidiary Salcef won the tender called by ANAS -- of the FS Italiane group -- for the construction of one of the key projects for the Jubilee 2025 in Rome. Specifically, the project involves the burying of the existing road system in Piazza Pia through the extension by about 130 meters of the existing underpass built as part of the Jubilee 2000 works. Thanks to this intervention, a continuous pedestrian path will materialize between the area in front of Castel Sant'Angelo and Via della Conciliazione, resulting in an improved usability of a stretch now affected by intense vehicular flow. The contract amount is about EUR35 million.

Tod's also does well, picking up 2.2 percent. The stock - which has been missing the ex-dividend since 2019 - marks a rise of more than 24 percent since the beginning of 2023.

GVS steps back 1.2%, closing the list with price at EUR5.58.

On the Small-Cap, the head of the list is for Itway, which moves ahead by 4.9%. The company reported Friday that its subsidiary 4Science continued its upward trend during the first half of the year, recording 117 percent order growth over the first half of 2022, reaching an order value of more than EUR1.2 million.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale also trades well, which with 4.8 percent of assets stands at the top of the list, repeating Thursday's green when it picked up a plus 7.4 percent.

Aeffe, on the other hand, advances with 2.7 percent, extending the green of the eve closed with a plus 0.9 percent.

Bioera -- in the red by 0.5 percent -- on Monday reported that, at the request of Golden Eagle Capital Advisors, five convertible bonds part of the first tranche -- subscribed by GECA on Oct. 11, 2022 -- of the convertible bond cum warrant had been converted.

At the tail end were two media stocks: Il Sole 24 Ore, which gave up 3.0 percent, and Class Editori, which flexed 2.9 percent.

Among SMEs, Finanza.Tech advances 3.7 percent, while Iervolino & Lady Bacardi, equally among the top performers, scores a plus 2.2 percent.

On a negative note, Estrima gives up 4.2 percent, after the 1.9 percent green on eve.

Energy, on the other hand, gives up 3.0 percent, after a 0.4 percent gain on eve. The stock had previously come from five bearish sessions.

In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones closed 1.1% in the red at 34,099.42, the S&P finished down 1.4% at 4,376.31, and the Nasdaq lost 1.9% at 13,463.97.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0788 against USD1.0829 on Thursday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2588 from USD1.2632 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD84.55 per barrel versus USD83.19 per barrel at Thursday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,916.78 an ounce from USD1,921.03 an ounce Thursday evening.

Friday's economic calendar features a speech by European Central Bank number Christine Lagarde at 1300 CEST at the Jackson Hole symposium, where Powell will speak at 1605 CEST.

At 1900 CEST, again from the U.S., focus on the Baker Hughes data while, at 2230 CEST, as usual on Friday, the COT Report is scheduled to be released.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to [e-mail]

Copyright 2023 Alliance News IS Italian Service Ltd. All rights reserved.