(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari on Friday attempted to extend eve's gains, placing the point bar above 26,000 points, with fears about an impending financial crisis appearing to be subsiding after First Republic Bank was also bailed out by a group of major U.S. lenders.

This move followed that of the Swiss central bank on its willingness to provide liquidity to Credit Suisse in an amount of up to CHF50 billion.

The ECB, on the other hand, opted, as expected, to raise its benchmark rates by 50 basis points, reaffirming that it will maintain a steady course in the fight against inflation.

In the U.S., banks turned in huge numbers to the "window" made available by the Federal Reserve and the Federal Home Loan Bank system over the past week, borrowing the largest volume since 2008, when panic spread among U.S. depositors.

Banks borrowed USD152.85 billion Wednesday, up from EUR4.58 billion the week before, according to new data released Thursday. Average daily lending last week was EUR85 billion, compared to EUR4.4 billion the week before, the highest since the 2008 financial crisis. The rate of said lending-the discount rate-is by custom 1% above the target set on federal funds.

Thus, for the FTSE Mib, the rise is 0.5 percent to 26,047 points.

Among the smaller listings, the Mid-Cap is just above par at 42,369.27, the Small-Cap gains 1.2 percent to 29,890.37, and Italy Growth is in the green by 0.4 percent to 9,255.63.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is up 0.5 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is up 0.1 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is in the green by 0.4 percent.

On the main list of Piazza Affari, Saipem is confirmed--following the trend of the opening bell--Saipem, which is putting in 2.7 percent on the heels of eve's green of 4.0 percent.

Confirming the oil sector's good session, also in bullish trend are parent company Eni, which is up 2.7 percent, and Tenaris, which is advancing with 2.6 percent.

Eni's board of directors also resolved Thursday to distribute to shareholders the fourth of four tranches of the 2022 dividend payout of EUR0.22 -- out of a total annual payout, in lieu of dividend, of EUR0.88 -- per outstanding share from available reserves. The ex-dividend date is May 22, the payout on the 24th.

Best among the bankers is Banco BPM, which advances 1.4 percent to EUR3.59 after eve's green with 1.4 percent.

Negative note for Campari, which scores minus 0.7% after three sessions on the bullish side.

Leonardo, on the other hand, closes the list, giving up 0.2%. Of note, the stock since the beginning of 2023 shows a rise of more than 33%.

On the cadet segment, Webuild remains in the lead, advancing 9.5 percent. The board of directors on Thursday approved the consolidated financial statements and draft operating budget as of December 31, 2022, reporting an adjusted net profit of EUR118.0 million, an improvement from a loss of EUR56 million in 2021. The board also decided to propose a unit dividend of EUR0.057.

Salcef, on the other hand, is rising 2.0 percent, with price at EUR18.20 and confirming last night's good session, which closed with a plus 2.5 percent.

Cembre on the other hand is rising 2.4%, reversing course after two bearish sessions and remaining almost unchanged when considered on a weekly basis.

MARR, on the other hand, is giving up 2.2 percent bringing its price down to EUR11.60, although on the weekly frame it still shows an upside of about 4 percent.

On the Small-Cap, Monrif takes a step back by 4.1 percent after eve's active 2.7 percent positioning itself at the tail end of the segment.

Pierrel, on the other hand, gives up 3.1 percent, repricing after eve's 7.4 percent assets.

Landi Renzo - leading the list since the opening gong - on the other hand rises 5.7 percent to EUR0.5960, echoing Thursday's green close of plus 4.3 percent.

In contrast, d'Amico is picking up 5.0%, with price at EUR0.4740. Of note, the company on a year-to-date basis shows an increase that has exceeded 400%.

On Italy Growth, Finanza.tech advances 6.7%, rearing its head again after five bearish sessions.

Cyberoo, on the other hand, rises 4.2 percent. During the week the company informed that it had acquired the remaining 49% of Cyber Division Srl, of which it had acquired 51% in 201.

At the tail end GEL gives up 4.6 percent to EUR1.45 heading for the sixth session to end on the bearish side as it awaits the accounts to be released later in the day.

In New York on European night, the Dow closed up 1.2 percent, the Nasdaq gained 2.5 percent while the S&P 500 closed in the green by 1.8 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0633 against USD1.0620 at yesterday's close. The NEER - in the latest survey provided by the ECB on March 16 - indicated a value of 119.85 - up slightly on the previous day. For perspective, the all-time low was 72 in 1993, while the high was in 2008 at 124. By contrast, the average is 105.

The nominal effective exchange rate of the euro is a weighted average of the nominal bilateral rates between the euro and a basket of foreign currencies. It is an indicator of the external values of the euro against the currencies of selected euro area trading partners.

In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2135 from USD1.2113 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD75.74 per barrel compared to USD74.34 per barrel last night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,930.63 an ounce from USD1,924.25 an ounce at Thursday's close.

On Friday's macroeconomic calendar, at 1415 CET, US industrial and manufacturing production data are due.

At 1500 CET, it is the turn of Michigan expectations sentiment and the US predictive index.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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