(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed Monday's trading session down, with Campari and Nexi leading the declines on the largest-capitalization list.

Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG, said, "Investors around the World will be trying to keep up with the plethora of earnings and economic events this week, so it is not surprising that the indexes struggled to maintain momentum in today's session."

"While the FTSE 100 counted its gains, the VIX suffered a sharp drop from last week's highs. Wall Street has recovered from last week's lows but few traders will still be willing to give the green light. Decisions from the Bank of Japan, Federal Reserve and Bank of England, plus payrolls and earnings from the all-important tech sector, mean it is far too early to jump in."

The FTSE Mib closed down 0.5 percent to 33,640.83, the Mid-Cap lost 1.0 percent to 47,224.55, the Small-Cap gave up 0.6 percent to 28,957.37, and Italy Growth fell 0.1 percent to 7,988.59.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed up 0.2 percent to 8,299.08, Paris' CAC 40 lost 1.0 percent to 7,442.22 and Frankfurt's DAX 40 gave up 0.5 percent to 18,320.21.

On the Mib, Campari closed down 2.9 percent and Nexi lost 2.1 percent, making them the worst performers in the blue chip basket.

STMicroelectronics was among the few bullish performers with a 1.1 percent gain. Leonardo did better with a 1.4% rise.

Terna fell 0.9 percent after reporting Friday that it closed the first half with a profit of EUR544.8 million from EUR411.4 million in the first half of 2023. Revenues amounted to EUR1.75 billion, up 18 percent from EUR1.49 billion in the first six months of 2023.

Tenaris, down 0.6 percent, reported Monday that between July 22 and 26 it bought 827,733 shares at an average price of EUR14.4272 for a total consideration of EUR11.9 million.

DiaSorin closed at a breakeven after announcing Monday that it closed the first half of the year with an adjusted net profit of EUR120 million from EUR113 million as of June 30, 2023.

Revenues in the period stood at EUR589 million from EUR576 million in the first half of 2023. Adjusted Ebitda as of June 30 amounted to EUR198 million from EUR190 million a year earlier, while adjusted Ebit was EUR153 million from EUR144 million in 2023.

With an eye to the future, the company said it has improved guidance, with post-Covid revenues growing between 6 percent and 7 percent and adjusted Ebitda margin of about 33 percent.

Among the bearish, Brunello Cucinelli was down 1.4 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, Zignago Vetro closed up 8.0 percent after finishing the previous session in the red by 7.5 percent. On Friday, it disclosed that it closed the first half of the year with net income down to EUR26.3 million from EUR74.6 million as of June 30, 2023, marking a 65 percent drop.

For the six-month period, revenues stood at EUR329.0 million from EUR384.8 million, down 15 percent from the first half of 2023.

Iren gave up 0.9%. The company reported Friday that the Fitch agency confirmed Iren's long-term credit rating at "BBB," and the same rating is also given to senior unsecured debt.

On Monday, meanwhile, the utility reported that net income for the first half of the year increased by 2 percent year-on-year to EUR145.2 million from EUR143.0 million in the same period a year earlier, aided by an increase in the tax rate.

Consolidated revenues as of June 30, 2024 stood at EUR2.70 billion, down 16 percent from EUR3.21 billion in the first half of 2023. The main drivers of the decline in revenues relate to energy revenues, which were influenced by more than EUR320 million by lower commodity prices that are being normalized after the energy crisis in recent years, and about EUR48 million by lower consumption and climate effects.

Cementir Holding rose 0.2 percent after closing the first half with group net income of EUR97.0 million, up 7.4 percent from EUR90.3 million as of June 30, 2023.

In the six-month period, revenues stood at EUR811.8 million, down 3.4 percent from EUR840.7 million in the first half of 2023. EBITDA was EUR192.7 million, down 3.9 percent from EUR200.5 million in 2023.

The company said it confirmed its Ebitda and NFP targets on a like-for-like basis for the current year, while it revised its 2024 revenue guidance to EUR1.7 billion from EUR1.8 billion and in line with 2023.

Webuild gained 1.8 percent after reporting Monday that its U.S. subsidiary, Lane, was awarded a contract worth about USD208 million for modernization work at Naval Air Station Oceana, a U.S. Navy air base in Virginia.

On the Small-Cap, CY4Gate closed up 1.9 percent at EUR6.32 per share. On Friday, it announced that it had signed the closing for the purchase of an additional 15.33 percent of DIATEAM.

This is a French company specializing in the design, development and implementation of advanced systems for testing, validation and training in the cyber security domain, for government and corporate clients, for which CY4Gate will come to hold 70.66 percent of its share capital.

Immsi Group's Intermarine - down 3.0 percent - and Leonardo, in the form of a temporary business grouping, signed a contract with Navarm - Directorate of Naval Armaments of the General Secretariat of Defense and National Armaments Directorate, for the supply of naval units for mine search and clearance and related integrated logistics support.

The contract provides EUR1.6 billion for the construction of five units and about EUR1 billion in options for the completion of the program.

Among SMEs, Monnalisa fell 5.4 percent. The company reported that it closed the first half of the year with revenues at EUR18.9 million, down 13 percent from EUR21.9 million in the same period last year.

Pharmacosmo lost 4.3 percent after reporting that the group had revenues of EUR32.4 million in the first half of the year, down nearly 12 percent from the same period a year earlier. The decrease was mainly caused by the B2B channel.

Fervi closed at a breakeven after ending the first half with revenues of EUR29.1 million from EUR29.5 million as of June 30, 2023.

The Consolidated Net Financial Position was negative EUR6.3 million, worse than the March 31 figure when it was negative EUR5.8 million due to the payment of the dividend resolved by the shareholders' meeting.

Making its Piazza Affari debut after a EUR17.7 million IPO, Misitano & Stracuzzi closed its first day of trading up 3.8 percent.

In New York, the Dow falls 0.3 percent to 40,479.37, the Nasdaq gives up 0.2 percent to 17,330.56 and the S&P 500 loses 0.1 percent to 5,451.24.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0823 versus USD1.0857 in Friday's European equities close while the pound is worth USD1.2854 from USD1.2860 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD80.84 per barrel from USD80.78 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,389.71 an ounce from USD2,383.83 an ounce on Friday evening.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar opens at 0101 CEST with UK retail prices and continues with Japanese unemployment at 0130 CEST.

At 0730 CEST, room for France's Gross Domestic Product, followed at 0900 CEST by Spanish inflation. At 1000 CEST, eyes on Italian GDP while from Germany will come GDP and inflation.

An hour later, the calendar offers Eurozone GDP and Eurozone consumer and business confidence.

In the afternoon, from the U.S., focus on house prices, due out at 1500 CEST, and consumer confidence, coming an hour later, along with new jobs JOLTs. Weekly oil stocks will be released at 2230 CEST.

Among companies in the Piazza Affari, results from Amplifon, A2A, Campari, Fincantieri, Fineco, Intesa, Inwit, Leonardo, and Recordati, among others, will arrive.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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