(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari and other European stock exchanges tacked upward in mid-day Monday, with banking stocks rebounding after an opening put under pressure by yesterday's announced acquisition of Credit Suisse Group by UBS Group.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.6 percent to 25,634.52.

Among the smaller listings, the Mid-Cap is in the green 0.6 percent to 41,822.93, the Small-Cap gives up 0.2 percent to 28,353.57 while Italy Growth is in the red 0.3 percent to 9,156.45.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is up 0.3 percent, Paris' CAC 40 picks up 0.4 percent as is Frankfurt's DAX 40.

Meanwhile, the euro area recorded a trade deficit of EUR30.6 billion in January, up from a deficit of EUR8.8 billion recorded in December and compared with a deficit of EUR30.2 billion in January 2022, Eurostat reported Monday.

Trade within the euro area rose to EUR223.8 billion in January by nearly 12 percent compared to January 2022.

On the main list of Piazza Affari, Terna did best of all and picked up 3.6 percent. The company reported Monday that in February, electricity demand in Italy totaled 25.1 billion kWh, a 2.2 percent drop compared to the same month in 2022.

Other utilities, gas and power, also did well, with A2A following in the green by 3.3 percent and Snam and Italgas up 3.0 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Also doing well are Hera, advancing 2.2%, and Enel, in the green by 1.9%.

Banks improve, with BPER Banca now down 1.9%. UniCredit, after a minus 6.2% at the open, now trades in the red by 0.5%, and FinecoBank moves to minus 0.4% from a loss of 3.8%.

Banca Monte Paschi di Siena, in its first session on the Mib, now retreats 1.2% while this morning it had opened down 6.1%.

After opening in the red, Banco BPM and Intesa Sanpaolo now trade in the green by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

Improving, but still bearish, are the oil companies: Eni gives up 0.7 percent, Tenaris gives up 0.8 percent, and Saipem loses 1.4 percent

DiaSorin is the worst, dropping 3.3%. The company announced Friday that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Simplexa Covid-19 & Flu A/B Direct test.

The test detects and differentiates influenza type A and B and SARS-CoV-2 viruses, providing physicians with the information they need to determine the most appropriate course of treatment for a patient.

On the Mid-Cap, at the bottom are El.En, down 6.0 percent, Antares Vision and Webuild, which give up 3.2 percent and 2.7 percent.

Credem recovers and after opening in the red by 4.4 percent now trades up 0.3 percent

Banca Popolare di Sondrio moves from this morning's 4.1% drop to a 0.4% red, while BFF Bank from its 3.9% opening decline now gives up 1.7%.

At the top is MutuiOnline, up 5.1%, followed by Iren, which advances 4.4%.

Fincantieri is also among the best, gaining 4.0% after announcing on Friday that it has initiated a new share buyback program to service the company's existing approved incentive plans and in particular the 2021 incentive plan.

The plan will target a maximum number of 10 million shares, corresponding to 0.6 percent of the company's share capital, and will last until April 6, 2023.

On the Small-Cap, Softlab takes the top spot with a 4.2 percent rise after approving on Friday its consolidated and draft financial statements as of December 31, 2022 reporting revenues up 25 percent to EUR23.7 million from EUR18.9 million a year earlier.

Net income of EUR3.2 million is in line with EUR3.1 million in 2021, after reporting net financial management income of EUR239,000 and operating income taxes of EUR939,000.

Fidia gives up 0.7 percent after announcing Friday that it has approved financial statements to Dec. 31, 2022, having reported net revenues of EUR24.4 million from EUR23.8 million in 2021.

Net income amounted to EUR5.8 million from a loss of EUR3.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2021.

Newlat Food is down 0.3 percent. On Friday, it approved its financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, and reported record consolidated revenues of EUR741.1 million in the period, an improvement of more than 18 percent from EUR625.2 million in the same period last year.

Consolidated revenues as of February 28, 2023 were EUR126.7 million, up 23 percent from the previous year.

Among SMEs, Intermonte Partners SIM rises with 1.7 percent after reporting that it closed 2022 with a net profit down to EUR7.6 million from EUR8.7 million in 2021.

Net interest and other banking income fell to EUR38.3 million from EUR43.9 million, net income from financial operations fell to EUR38.2 million from EUR43.9 million, and pretax profit fell to EUR7.6 million from EUR8.7 million.

SG Company still does not trade. The company reported Thursday that the order backlog of contracted orders from the beginning of the year to date is EUR9.6 million, 43% higher than the figure for the same period last year of EUR6.7 million.

GEL gives up 3.3 percent after announcing Friday that it has approved results as of December 31, 2022, reporting a net profit of EUR700,000 down from the EUR2.0 million recorded in 2021. The board will also propose to the shareholders' meeting to allocate the entire amount to an extraordinary reserve.

Revenues amounted to EUR17.2 million, down 8.0 percent from EUR18.6 million in the previous year.

In New York, the Dow closed down 1.2 percent at 31,861.98, the Nasdaq gave up 0.7 percent to 11,630.51 while the S&P 500 closed 1.1 percent in the red at 3,916.64.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0695 versus USD1.0667 at Friday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2213 from USD1.2169 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD71.15 per barrel versus USD73.50 per barrel Friday night. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,978.40 an ounce from USD1,959.47 an ounce at Friday's close.

On Monday's economic calendar, French BTF auctions are scheduled at 1500 CET and US Treasury bond auctions at 1630 CET.

In Piazza Affari, results from Mondo TV Suisse, Portobello, Softec, and Tecma Solutions are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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