(Alliance News) - Wednesday, in the midst of trading, major European stock markets continue in positive territory ahead of the release of some macroeconomic data from the U.S. anticipated given tomorrow's Thanksgiving holiday closure.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is in the green by 0.6 percent at 29,318.98, the Mid-Cap rises 0.5 percent to 41,756.76, the Small-Cap is on the parity threshold at 25,800.36, while Italy Growth rises 0.5 percent to 7,807.13.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the green by 0.5 percent, London's FTSE 100 is on the parity line, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 is in the green by 0.4 percent.

On the main list in Piazza Affari is Monte dei Paschi di Siena -- in the green by 2.2 percent -- which has let it be known that Moody's has upgraded its baseline credit assessment to 'ba3' from 'b1'. It also upgraded the long term deposit rating to 'Ba1' from 'Ba2' and the long term senior unsecured debt rating to 'Ba3' from 'B1'. The decision comes just days after Italy's outlook was revised to 'Stable'.

Banco BPM rises 1.1 percent after announcing that it has upgraded its baseline credit assessment to 'baa3' from 'ba2'. Improving the rating by two notches, Moody's raised the long-term rating on senior unsecured debt to 'Baa2' from 'Ba1,' again improving it by two notches, and those on long-term deposits to 'Baa1' from 'Baa2.' The outlook is Stable.

BPER Banca - up 0.9 percent - also does well, having its ratings confirmed and outlook revised to positive from negative. In addition, the bank concluded the placement of EUR750 million guaranteed issue with a maturity of 5 years, fixed-rate and aimed at institutional investors.

The issue collected orders of more than double the issued amount from about 70 investors.

Compared to the opening, it reverses course Enel, which rises 0.1 percent after publishing details of its new business plan to 2026. The company expects ordinary net income to grow to between EUR7.1 billion and EUR7.3 billion.

Enel said it expects a minimum fixed dividend per share of EUR0.43, with a potential increase to a 70 percent payout on ordinary net income if cash flow neutrality is achieved. The group's ordinary Ebitda is expected to grow and increase to between EUR23.6 billion and EUR24.3 billion.

Between 2024 and 2026, the Enel group has planned total gross investments of about EUR35.8 billion.

Leonardo -- on the parity threshold at EUR14.67 per share -- announced the completion of a public offering in the U.S. on Nov. 21 by its subsidiary Leonardo US Holding LLC of a minority stake -- equal to 20.7 million ordinary shares -- in Leonardo DRS Inc. at an offering price of USD17.75 per share.

On the cadet segment, fashion stocks regained ground, with Tod's gaining 1.2 percent after Barclays cut its target price to EUR33.00 from EUR34.00 with 'equal weight' title. The same analysts cut Salvatore Ferragamo's tp - up 0.3% - to EUR12.00 from EUR13.00 with 'underweight' title.

In contrast, Brunello Cucinelli rises 1.4% after UBS raised its target price to EUR98.00 from EUR87.00.

Acea gains 1.7 percent after letting it know on Wednesday that Moody's agency has upgraded the outlook to stable from negative and confirmed the long-term issuer rating and senior unsecured rating at Baa2, the baseline credit assessment at baa2 level, as well as the PBaa2 level assigned to the EMTN program.

According to Moody's, the improvement in Acea's outlook follows the same dynamic seen by Italian sovereign debt.

On Small-Cap, d'Amico International Shipping - in the red by 1.0 percent - announced that it has received approval to trade its shares on the OTCQX Best Market in the U.S. as of Nov. 20.

PLC - down 0.4% - reported that PLC System, a group company, has signed a contract with RWE Renewables Italia for the balance of plant of a wind farm with a capacity of 54 MWp located in the province of Foggia.

RWE is a utility active in the energy sector with a specific focus on the renewable energy segment in Europe and worldwide.

The contract has a total consideration of more than EUR20 million, of which PLC System is responsible for about 14 percent.

Among SMEs, Solutions Capital Management SIM climbs 6.0 percent after reporting Tuesday that commission income for the first nine months rose 41 percent to EUR5.5 million from EUR3.9 million in the same period last year.

Commission expense was EUR2.7 million compared to EUR1.6 million as of September 30, 2022. Net interest and other banking income was EUR2.8 million, up 26 percent from EUR2.2 million in the same period last year. The net loss of EUR360,000 marks a marked improvement from the loss of EUR890,000 a year earlier.

IMD International Medical Devices - up 7.0 percent - reported Monday evening that, taking into account the information available to date, the group's growth trends remain unchanged at the moment. Turnover and Ebitda targets of around EUR50 million and EUR8 million respectively are planned for 2024. In addition, the CEO disclosed the unaudited management figure of net financial debt, which as of September 30, 2023 shows a net cash position of about EUR5.1 million.

In New York, the Dow closed down 0.2 percent last night at 35,088.29, the Nasdaq was down 0.6 percent at 14,199.98, and the S&P 500 gave up 0.2 percent to 4,538.19.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0902 against USD1.0938 recorded at Tuesday's European stock close while the pound was worth USD1.2529 from USD1.2537 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD81.75 per barrel from USD81.74 per barrel at Tuesday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,002.95 an ounce from USD2,003.61 an ounce Tuesday evening.

Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar features US mortgage data at 1300 CET.

German import prices will be released at 1330 CET, one hour before US jobless claims and goods orders. At 1600 CET, eyes on euro area consumer confidence, half an hour before U.S. crude oil stocks data. At 1900 CET, focus on Baker Hughes data on U.S. drilling rigs.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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