(Alliance News) - Monday, major European stock markets trade in negative territory at mid-day, except for the lone Frankfurt Stock Exchange in slight gain after the release of some macroeconomic data from the Eurozone and Germany.

The FTSE Mib is down 0.3 percent to 30,347.71, the Mid-Cap gives up 0.2 percent to 43,685.18, the Small-Cap is on the parity line at 27,851.40, as is Italy Growth at 8,293.64.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is down 0.4 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is in the red 0.1 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 0.1 percent.

In macroeconomic news, in November, seasonally adjusted retail trade volume fell 0.3 percent in the Eurozone from a positive 0.4 percent in October, aligning with market consensus to mark the sharpest decline in retail sales volume since August.

Also in the Eurozone, consumer confidence improved in December, according to the European Commission's latest flash estimate released Monday.

Consumer confidence in the Eurozone in December stood at minus 15.1 an improvement from negative 16.9 in November.

The employment expectations indicator remained stable in the eurozone, up slightly by 0.1 percent to 102.8, and rose moderately in the EU by 0.5 points to 102.4.

On the bluechip list, Banca Mediolanum is up 0.8 percent. The bank reported Monday that it reported total net inflows of EUR1.22 billion in December.

Net inflows in asset management stood at EUR655 million in December.

Best of all still does Amplifon, which advances 2.9 percent followed by Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which rises 1.6 percent followed by the other banking stocks: Fineco gains 1.1 percent, Banca Generali 0.5 percent, UniCredit 0.4 percent and Banco BPM 0.2 percent.

On Amplifon to report that Morgan Stanley promotes the stock to 'overweight' from 'equal weight' and raises the target price to EUR35.00 from EUR30.00.

At the bottom, however, are oils, with Eni giving up 2.4 percent, Saipem 2.5 percent and Tenaris, which loses 0.7 percent.

Also among the bearers are Telecom Italia and Stellantis, both down 1.0%.

On the Mid-Cap, Anima Holding is up 2.0% after announcing Monday that the group's net inflows of assets under management in December -- excluding class I insurance proxies -- were positive EUR277 million, bringing the 2024 total to a negative EUR171 million.

At year-end, total assets under management by the Anima group stood at EUR191.5 billion.

It does best of all LU-VE, which rises 3.4 percent followed by Alerion with assets of 3.1 percent. On the bottom, however, is Tinexta, which leaves 1.7 percent on the parterre along with Maire Tecnimont.

Among small-cap companies, algoWatt advances 8.8 percent. It disclosed on Friday, in an update to its Dec. 31 announcement, that the Court of Milan upheld the company's appeal for admission to the "conditional" arrangement procedure.

Aeroporto Guglielmo Marconi Di Bologna climbs 0.7 percent after reporting that it definitely surpassed pre-pandemic traffic levels in 2023 and recorded the best year in its history, reaching close to 10 million passengers. In detail, the airport recorded nearly 10 million passengers, representing a growth of 17 percent over 2022 and 6.0 percent over 2019. After a still "lukewarm" start to the year, with numbers up on 2022 but still lower than the same period in 2019, the first reversal of the trend has been recorded since May, with the progressive passenger figure in the positive field by 0.5 percent even compared to the last year without Covid.

Among Milan-listed SMEs, Comal is up 1.7 percent after announcing Monday that it has been awarded the "Next Appennino | Measure B1.2 - B3.3" tender for the construction of an industrial plant for the production of innovative and high-efficiency photovoltaic modules in L'Aquila Province.

The total investment amounts to EUR16.1 million of which EUR6.9 million in subsidized financing, EUR4.9 million in plant account contribution, EUR200,000 in direct contributions and EUR4.1 million in bank financing, requested directly by Comal through an already identified financial partner.

Directa SIM - in the green by 2.0 percent - reported that it ended 2023 with 78,132 active accounts as of Dec. 31, up about 27 percent, while total client assets reached nearly EUR4.7 billion, marking an increase of about 35 percent.

With more than 16,000 new customers in twelve months, the company marked the largest increase in its history, coming close to 80,000 total.

Clabo is flat at EUR2.18 per share. It announced Friday that it has signed a EUR3.3 million loan agreement with Banca Progetto Spa.

The loan has a term of 96 months and provides for 12 months of preamortization during which only interest payments will be made. The transaction is backed by a guarantee issued by SACE under the "Supportitalia" program.

Vantea SMART rises 1.6 percent after announcing Friday that it has been admitted to Abruzzo regional funding for the WTTM project. The company will receive a grant of EUR560,000 for a project whose total amount is EUR800,000. The WTTM - Welcome To The Machine project involves the design and testing of a cybersecurity framework to be applied to companies operating in the automotive world.

In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones closed in the green by 0.1 percent at 37,466.11, the S&P finished up 0.2 percent at 4,697.24, and the Nasdaq closed in the green by 0.1 percent at 14,524.07.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0940 against USD1.0968 recorded in Friday's European equities close while the pound was worth USD1.2697 from USD1.2741 on Friday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD77.04 per barrel versus USD78.88 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,034.00 an ounce from USD2,049.11 an ounce on Friday night.

On Monday's macroeconomic calendar from the States, a three- and six-month Treasury bond auction is scheduled at 1730 CET.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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