Futures Point to Technical Rebound for European Markets

(Alliance News) - Major European stock markets are poised for a positive start on Friday, according to futures trading, with a likely technical rebound as investors remain cautious amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and the potential involvement of the United States.

President Donald Trump stated that Iran has been given a final opportunity to reach a deal on its nuclear program, delaying any decision on possible military intervention for up to two weeks.

Meanwhile, markets are digesting a busy week of central bank decisions: the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve both left interest rates unchanged, while the Swiss National Bank cut its benchmark rate to 0%, signaling a more accommodative monetary policy.

The FTSE Mib, which closed down 1.2% at 38,942.19 points last night, is currently showing a gain of 310.00 points.

Among the secondary indices, the Mid-Cap fell 1.3% to 52,845.14 points, the Small-Cap lost 1.4% to 30,555.89 points, while the Italy Growth index edged up 0.1% to 8,122.85 points.

Germany's DAX is up 220.00 points, Paris' CAC is advancing by 70.00 points, and London's FTSE 100 is up 41.40 points.

Back in Milan, Italgas led the gainers last night, climbing 0.7%. Terna also performed well, up 0.6%, while Eni rounded out the podium, also rising 0.6%.

On Thursday, Eni announced a partnership with Microsoft Corp aimed at developing strategic initiatives for the company's digital transformation. The current industrial plan foresees commitments of EUR2.4 billion for digital transformation.

On the banking front, the European Commission on Thursday approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, UniCredit's proposed acquisition of Banco BPM. UniCredit dropped 2.0% to EUR55.35 per share, while Banco BPM fell 3.0% to EUR9.81 per share.

Among the losers, Leonardo--down 2.1% to EUR47.14 per share--and Airbus announced a joint architecture study on NATO's NH90 helicopter.

Saipem announced Thursday that it has secured a Front End Engineering Design contract from Sonatrach for the Phosphate Integrated project, aimed at fertilizer production in Algeria. At full capacity, the project is expected to produce 6 million tons of fertilizer per year. The stock closed down 0.5% at EUR2.398 per share.

Intesa Sanpaolo--down 1.5%--along with Fine Foods & Pharmaceuticals, announced the finalization of EUR30 million in financing to expand the Pharma BU production facility in Brembate, Bergamo, which began at the end of 2023. Fine Foods closed up 0.3% on the Small-Cap index.

Mediobanca also declined--down 1.9% to EUR18.96--after buying back over EUR4 million worth of its own shares on Thursday.

Press reports indicate that Prysmian has announced a new USD500 million investment to expand its Texas facility, with a new 60,000-square-meter plant dedicated to medium-voltage cables, expected to be operational in 2027 and to create 120 new jobs. The stock fell 1.1% to EUR55.70.

Luxury brands closed the session lower, with Brunello Cucinelli down 2.2% and Moncler losing 3.5%, placing it at the bottom of the index.

Among mid-caps, Garofalo Health Care recorded a 1.8% increase to EUR5.2 per share.

Juventus FC, slightly down 0.5% to EUR3.04 per share, announced it has extended its technical partnership with Adidas for the next 10 years, securing a fixed income of EUR408 million.

Among the decliners, TXT Solutions dropped 3.1%, while MAIRE fell 3.6%.

On the Small-Cap index, Class Editori--5.2% of whose shares are held by Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, according to Consob--outperformed all, surging 11% to EUR0.1615 per share.

Gas Plus also posted a significant gain, up 5.2% to EUR5.08 per share.

Among SMEs, Adventure performed well with a 3.9% rise, while Convergenze topped the list, up 7.9% to EUR1.91 per share after completing a buyback plan of 171,000 shares.

FOS announced Thursday that FOS Holding, a company indirectly controlled by Daniel Pacault, president of FOS, acquired 40,500 of the company's shares for a total of over EUR140,000. The stock was flat at EUR3.54.

Metriks AI announced its own share buyback program. The stock closed unchanged at EUR2.23 per share.

Alfonsino--up 3.5% to EUR0.268--announced Thursday the signing of an exclusive contract with Superò, a major retail brand, to launch a grocery delivery service initially in one store, with a start date set for June 25.

A new patent for the 50Kw monoblock helped IMD International Medical Devices gain 0.7% to EUR1.39 per share.

U.S. stock markets were closed for the Juneteenth holiday.

In Asian markets, the Nikkei is just above flat, as is the Shanghai Composite, while the Hang Seng is up 0.8%.

In currency markets, the euro is trading at USD1.1524 compared to USD1.1470 on Thursday evening, while the pound is trading at USD1.3483 versus USD1.3428 in the previous session.

In commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD76.65 per barrel, down from USD78.37 at the previous close, while gold is valued at USD3,347.60 per ounce, down from USD3,365.775 at the previous close.

Friday's economic calendar includes the ECB's monthly report at 10:00 CEST, followed by the Eurogroup meeting at 12:00 CEST.

Across the Atlantic, at 14:30 CEST, Canadian retail sales data and the Philadelphia Fed's economic conditions index in the U.S. are due.

On Piazza Affari, Zucchi will present its results.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News Reporter

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