(Alliance News) - Major European stock exchanges are set for a downward opening on Tuesday, according to IG futures, amid an early week weighed down by rising geopolitical tensions on various fronts and exacerbated by uncertainty caused by the death of Iran's president.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is expected to fall 0.2 percent or 82.5 points after giving up 1.6 percent to 34,825.01.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is expected to be in the red by 0.2 percent or 14.8 points, London's FTSE100 is given to be down 0.5 percent or 40.0 points, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to be down 0.2 percent or 42.4 points.

Investors also continue to assess the outlook for U.S. interest rates. "The week started with a fairly solid appetite, especially for commodities," comments Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank. "Gold rose to a new record high and was trading at USD2,450 an ounce yesterday, despite the further rebound in U.S. yields after other members of the Federal Reserve expressed their preference to keep rates "high for longer.

In fact, Loretta Mester, the analyst continues, "said she no longer thinks three rate cuts are appropriate, Vice Chairman Michael Barr insisted that current rates need more time to bring inflation to 2 percent, Mary Daly is not confident that inflation will come down on a lasting basis, and Phillip Jefferson threw cold water on last week's post-CPI optimism, saying the data have been encouraging but the cooling is slower than he would have liked."

On the macro front, the Federal Statistical Office reported Tuesday that producer prices in Germany fell 3.3 percent year-on-year in April, following a 2.9 percent decline in the previous month, compared to market forecasts of a 3.2 percent drop. This was the tenth consecutive month of manufacturing deflation.

Among Italy's minor listings on Monday, the Mid-Cap closed down 0.9 percent at 47,928.87, the Small-Cap was down 0.7 percent at 29,284.71 while Italy Growth was down 0.2 percent at 8,233.11.

On the Mib, Unipol gained 1.5 percent, closing for the seventh session in a row with a bullish candle.

Saipem advanced 0.4 percent. The company announced Thursday that it has been awarded a new offshore contract by Azule Energy Angola to develop the Ndungu Field project, as part of the Agogo Integrated West Hub project, located about 180 kilometers off the coast of Angola. The value of the contract is approximately USD850 million.

At the tail end of the list is Banca Popolare di Sondrio, in the red by 6.1 percent after Friday night's green by 1.1 percent with the bank on the ex-dividend date today.

Among the bankers -- the prevailing segment down -- are also Intesa with the ex-dividend, and Banco BPM, in the red by 1.6 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.

In the cadet segment, Industrie de Nora posted a minus 4.2 percent, after a 1.1 percent gain in the previous session.

Comer Industries gave up 2.0 percent, following the previous session's 2.7 percent red.

Moltiply Group closed in the green by 2.4 percent. The company announced Thursday that its Mavriq Division has signed binding agreements to acquire a leading online comparison and brokerage operator in the Netherlands. The agreed entreprise value for 100 percent of Pricewise's shares is EUR25.0 million, and the purchase will be financed through cash and/or use of already available credit lines.

Acea Ambiente, a subsidiary of Acea - in the green by 0.5% -, submitted a bid by the deadline regarding the call for tenders published by Roma Capitale for the award of the concession of the plant hub relating to the design, authorization for operation, construction and management of a waste-to-energy plant and related ancillary plant engineering.

Good buying on Caltagirone, which led the stock to appreciate 3.9 percent.

On the Small-Cap, Met.Extra Group was at the top with a 4.7 percent rise, bringing the price to EUR2.68 per share.

Netweek, on the other hand, picked up 2.0 percent. The company announced Thursday that a contract had been signed for the acquisition of 100 percent of Telecity 2, a company into which the television and publishing activities of the Telecity group, a leader in Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria, and Valle d'Aosta, had been contributed. The price paid for 100 percent of Telecity 2 is EUR6 million and includes--among others--the television activities of the four regional broadcasters, the Assago office and about 40 employees.

Caleffi rose 0.9%. The company announced that a buyback plan already approved by shareholders this week will be launched today. The purpose of the plan is to purchase a maximum of EUR200,000 of its own ordinary shares.

Triboo gave up 1.5 percent after reporting first quarter revenues of EUR17.8 million from EUR22.6 million as of March 31, 2023. Ebitda in the period stood at EUR2.3 million from EUR2.9 million in Q1 2023.

Softlab, on the other hand, gave up 4.7 percent after a 3.2 percent green in the previous session.

Among SMEs, ICF Group rose 2.5 percent after announcing on Monday the launch of a new buyback plan for a maximum of 1 million shares and a total value of EUR8 million.

Strength on iVision tech, which rose 7.7 percent. The company reported that its board of directors approved the issuance of two bonds with a total countervalue of EUR7.0 million.

Caribbean Company, on the other hand, closed ahead 4.3 percent, on the heels of Friday night's 6.8 percent gain.

SG Co--up more than 15 percent--reported Friday that the value of the group's contracted order book as of April 30 was approximately EUR19.3 million, up 87 percent from the figure for the same period a year earlier, when it was EUR10.3 million. The figure is equivalent to 65 percent of the group's consolidated turnover as of Dec. 31, 2023, or EUR29.5 million.

Among the bearish Crowdfundme gave up 4.8 percent, tacking down after two sessions in which it raised an aggregate of 10 percent.

Askoll Eva gave up 2.4 percent, in its third session among the bearish.

Implants, on the other hand, closed down 7.7 percent, in its third session among the bearish.

In Asia, the Nikkei gives up 0.2%, the Hang Seng is in the red 2.1% and the Shanghai Composite drops 0.5%.

In New York on Friday, the Dow closed 0.5 percent in the red at 39,806.77, the Nasdaq rose 0.7 percent to 16,794.88, and the S&P finished fractionally in the green at 5,308.13.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0858 from USD1.0861 in Monday's European stock close while the pound was worth USD1.2713 from USD1.2704 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD83.19 per barrel from USD83.68 per barrel on Monday evening. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,417.31 an ounce from USD2,422.07 an ounce Monday night.

Among Tuesday's economic data, the Eurozone current account figure is expected at 1000 CEST. At 1100 CEST the Eurozone construction output and trade balance data is expected.

At 1500 CEST, on the other hand, a speech by Waller and Barkin of the Federal Reserve is expected, followed at 1500 CEST by those of Williams and Bostic.

In the evening there will be a speech by Bailey of the Bank of England at 1900 CEST.

Among companies, Kruso Kapital, Solustions Capital Management and SIM accounts are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to redazione@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2024 Alliance News IS Italian Service Ltd. All rights reserved.