(Alliance News) - The major European stock markets look set for a cautious opening, according to IG futures, following the latest economic data from China and the UK, and after tensions in the Middle East overnight pushed oil up 2 percent.

The FTSE Mib then, is expected to rise 50.0 points or 0.2 percent after closing just below par at 28,367.36.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is expected to open in the green by 10.5 points or 0.1 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is given fractional red and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to rise 20.0 points or 0.1 percent.

"With diplomatic efforts underway in hopes of preventing further escalation of the crisis and the news that President Biden will travel to Israel later this week, it is unlikely that we will see Israel staging an incursion into Gaza any time soon," commented Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets. However, the horrific overnight bombing of the Gaza hospital complicated matters by leading to the cancellation of the summit with the U.S. president amid claims and counterclaims about who was responsible for the explosion, causing oil prices to rise sharply."

As for macros from China, third-quarter GDP appears to counter expectations, coming in higher than expected but "reinforcing skepticism about the accuracy of Chinese economic data, particularly GDP," Hewson added. The 4.9 percent expansion in the July-September year-over-year period was higher than expectations of 4.4 percent cited by FXStreet. However, it was slower than the 6.3 percent in the second quarter.

The UK inflation rate, on the other hand, remained steady at 6.7 percent in September, defying market expectations of a slight decline to 6.6 percent, as smaller increases in food and furniture prices were offset by smaller declines in energy costs.

Among Italy's minor listings Tuesday evening, the Mid-Cap closed up 0.2 percent at 38,913.67, the Small-Cap was in the green 0.4 percent at 25,253.83, and Italy Growth ended 0.2 percent in the red at 7,929.40.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, Telecom Italia finished up 3.7 percent, followed by FinecoBank, in the green by 1.7 percent, and Tenaris, which closed up 1.4 percent.

Among the bearish, Mediobanca ended near the bottom giving up 2.1 percent after it reported that Compass, the group's consumer credit company, has finalized the acquisition of 100 percent of HeidiPay Switzerland AG, a Swiss fintech specializing in Buy Now Pay Later.

The deal signed last June strengthens the partnership with HeidiPay AG, a holding company specializing in the development of fintech platforms to support BNPL in the world of e-commerce and for physical points of sale, in which Compass already holds a 19.5 percent stake as of August 2022.

Italgas closed up 0.9 percent. The company announced Monday that it had completed the acquisition from Veolia Environnement SA Group of the business unit to which the concessions held in Italy in the water sector belong. For the purchase, the company will be able to pay the Veolia group a total of up to EUR115 million -- in terms of equity value --, partly contingent on the achievement of certain targets of the operating companies.

On the Mid-Cap, Credito Emiliano -- in the green by 1.2 percent -- reported Monday that rating agency Fitch confirmed the long-term issuer default rating at 'BBB', with stable outlook, and the Viability Rating at 'bbb'.

MFE-MediaForEurope let it be known on Monday that on Oct. 23, the regrouping of class A ordinary shares -- in the red by 1.2 percent -- and class B ordinary shares -- in the green by 1.9 percent -- will be carried out, according to which every 5 A shares will be regrouped into 1 new A ordinary share with maintenance of the par value per unit of each new A ordinary share at the pre-grouping amount, i.e. EUR0.06.

On the Small-Cap, Seri Industrial took the top spot with a rise of nearly 12 percent.

Aeffe finished down 0.3 percent. On Monday it announced that it had appointed Davide Renne as Moschino's new creative director.

Renne, who for the past two decades led Gucci's women's style office, serving as head designer for Womenswear, will oversee Moschino's womenswear, menswear and accessories collections, reporting to Massimo Ferretti, executive chairman of Aeffe. He will officially assume the new role on Nov. 1.

Itway--in the red by 1.6 percent--reported Monday that it has signed a strategic partnership with identity governance company One Identity.

One Identity's products are needed to manage identities and access to corporate resources. One Identity, part of the Quest Software Group, an IT security company based in California, USA, designs and develops identity governance, access management and identity-as-a-service software solutions that help organizations counter security threats.

Among the SMEs, the board of ESI-which closed up 9.4 percent-on Monday evening approved the industrial development plan for the period 2024-2026, "aimed at capturing the strong growth trend in installed PV capacity globally, and with the objective of continuing to create value for the company and shareholders," the memo released said.

Upon completion of the plan, ESI expects to achieve a value of production of EUR69.3 million, with a CAGR (2022A-2026E) of 23 percent. Expected Ebitda at the end of 2026 is EUR6 million with an Ebitda margin of 8.7 percent.

Pattern - which finished in the green by 5.3% - reported that the shareholders' meeting of S.M.T. Srl - 80% owned - was held, which approved the merger by incorporation of Zanni Srl a company from Emilia specializing in engineering and production of seamless Wholegarment knitwear.

Among the bearish, E-Globe closed 4.8 percent in the red. It announced Monday that it had signed turnkey contracts worth a total of about EUR2.7 million to be completed by 2023.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 0.2 percent to 32,076.00, the Hang Seng was in the green 0.2 percent to 17,721.50, and the Shanghai Composite was in the red 0.8 percent to 3,059.72.

In New York on the European night, the Dow closed in fractional green at 33,997.65, the Nasdaq gave up 0.3 percent to 13,533.75 while the S&P 500 finished below par at 4,373.20.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0593 against USD1.0582 recorded in Tuesday's European equities close, while the pound was worth USD1.2210 from USD1.2190 on Tuesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD91.64 per barrel from USD89.77 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,9360.24 an ounce from USD1,925.01 an ounce on Monday evening.

On Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar, at 1000 CEST, from Italy, the trade balance is expected.

From the Eurozone, inflation and construction production data will come out at 1100 CEST.

In the afternoon, as usual, will come US mortgages at 1300 CEST and building permits at 1430 CEST.

At 1630 CEST, US oil stocks will come out.

On the Piazza Affari calendar, no special events are scheduled.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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