(Alliance News) - At mid-session Monday, Piazza Affari trades in the green -- like other European exchanges -- with trading rooms continuing to monitor China's "reopening" as jitters grew over rumors of further policy changes by the Bank of Japan this week as it grapples with controlling the yield curve after December's change to cap the yield band at 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, traders will keep an eye on comments from several central bank officials as ECB President Lagarde and Panetta speak at the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels later in the day.

On the economic data front, Germany's wholesale price inflation slowed to 12.8 percent in December after rising 14.9 percent in November, Destatis reported Monday. December's figure is the lowest since August 2021. Prices of raw materials and preliminary products were the main drivers of the increase but the biggest impact came from the cost of petroleum products, up 23 percent, followed by solid fuels, up 82 percent, and live animals, up 48 percent.

The FTSE Mib thus advanced 0.2 percent to 25,839.90.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is rising 0.1 percent, as is Paris' CAC 40 while Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 0.2 percent.

Among the smaller lists, the Mid-Cap is rising 0.3 percent to 42,160.04, the Small-Cap is up 0.3 percent to 29,338.68, and Italy Growth is up 0.3 percent to 9,518.40.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, DiaSorin is making its way up, marking a plus of 2.9 percent following the 2.3 percent gain in the previous session.

Banco BPM, on the other hand, rises 2.3 percent. On the stock is Redburn which raised its recommendation on the stock to 'buy'.

Also doing well is Saipem, which rises with 2 percent, while parent company Eni, on the other hand, gives way, albeit just below par. The Six-legged Dog announced over the weekend a major new gas discovery in the Nargis-1 exploration well in the "Nargis Offshore Area" concession in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, offshore Egypt. The Nargis-1 well, drilled in 309 meters of water by the Stena Forth drillship, encountered about 61 meters of Miocene and Oligocene sandstones containing gas. The discovery may be developed by taking advantage of its proximity to existing Eni infrastructure.

Snam, meanwhile, advances 0.7 percent to EUR4.89. On the stock it is reported that Deutsche Bank raised its target price to EUR5.20 from EUR5.00.

Among the few bearish performers is Banca Generali, which gives ground at EUR0.90. The bank reported last week that total net inflows in December were EUR640 million, compared to EUR849 million in December 2021. The last month was the best of the year 2022, and since January total inflows were over EUR5.70 billion, compared to EUR7.69 billion in all of 2021.

On the cadet segment, Alerion stretches 2.5 percent bringing the price to EUR32.35 per share.

It does better than all SOL, which marks a 3 percent gain bringing assets since the beginning of the year to 18 percent.

Webuild -- in the money with 1.0 percent -- reported Monday that U.S. subsidiary Lane was awarded a USD218 million contract to increase capacity and improve mobility and safety at the intersection of Interstate 4 (I-4) and Sand Lake Road (State Road 482) in Orange County, Florida. The intersection is part of the well-known Orlando tourism corridor that connects some of Central Florida's most important attractions, such as Universal Studios, Sea World, and Walt Disney World.

Salvatore Ferragamo also rose, marking a plus 0.3 percent to EUR17.75. On the stock, Bank of America raised its fair value to EUR14.00 from EUR12.00.

In the red was Monte dei Paschi, which closed down 3.7 percent after three sessions ended on the bullish side.

On the Small-Cap side, purchases on Giglio.Group, which moves ahead 7.9% to EUR1.19.

Also moving on the upside is algoWatt. The company announced Monday that it has obtained EUR275,000 in funding for activities as a digital energy solution provider and system integrator under the Thumbs Up project "Thermal energy storage solUtions to optimally Manage BuildingS and Unlock their grid balancing and flexibility Potential."

Among the bearish, Bastogi steps back 3.2 percent to EUR0.6120. There is high trading volume on the stock, marking nearly 18,000 against a three-month average of about 7,300.

Among PMIs, Culti Milano moves ahead 3.9%, rebounding from Friday night's 5.1% decline.

Doing even better is Esautomotion, which appreciates 6.7 percent following up Friday's green with 4.9 percent. There is an unusually high trading volume on this stock as well, with 52,000 changed hands against a three-month average of about 8,700 daily.

On the downside, Alfonsino, on the other hand, gives up 3.4 percent, closing the listing and placing the price bar at EUR0.4870.

In New York on Friday evening, the Dow closed in the green by 0.3 percent, the Nasdaq up 0.7 percent, while the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent.

Among Asian exchanges, the Nikkei gave up 1.1 percent, the Hang Seng closed just above par, while the Shanghai Composite picked up 1.0 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0833 versus USD1.0818 at Friday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2217 from USD1.2199 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD84.56 per barrel from USD84.43 per barrel Friday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,917.31 an ounce from USD1,911.08 an ounce last session.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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