(Alliance News) - All major European stock markets are expected to open higher according to IG futures on Wednesday morning as the release of key macro data from relevant institutions continues after the holiday break.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is expected up 45 points or 0.2 percent after closing up 1.2 percent at 24,436.47.

The FTSE 100 is expected to open up 20.2 points or 0.3 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is expected up 14.0 points or 0.2 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to be in the green 44 points or 0.3 percent.

Yesterday, European stock markets benefited from "an unexpected drop in German inflation below the 10 percent threshold, weaker Spanish inflation, and a further decline in natural gas futures due to an abnormally mild winter, which also reinforced the idea that inflation could fall further if energy prices, which are the main culprits for skyrocketing European inflation, fall," commented Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank.

"And if inflation starts falling at this rate in Europe, the European Central Bank will not have to worry about fighting it so aggressively," the analyst added.

Overnight from Japan came the au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing PMI, which came in at 48.9 in December, slightly revised upward from the flash figure of 48.8 and after a final 49 in November, according to data released Wednesday by Markit Economics.

December was the second consecutive month of decline in industrial activity and the pace was the steepest since October 2020, due to weak domestic and foreign demand.

Among Italy's smaller lists last night, the Mid-Cap gained 1.3 percent to 40,258.38, the Small-Cap rose 0.4 percent to 28,208.69, and Italy Growth finished up 0.5 percent to 9,366.83.

On the main list of Piazza Affari, almost all in green, Pirelli took the top spot followed by UniCredit. The former rallied 4.5 percent and the latter closed up 3.1 percent.

Enel finished up 2.8 percent after announcing Friday that Enel Brasil, a subsidiary through Chilean listed company Enel Américas, has finalized the sale of its entire stake in Brazilian power distribution company CELG Distribuição CELG D, amounting to about 99.9 percent of the latter's share capital, to Equatorial Participações e Investimentos, a subsidiary of Equatorial Energia.

Eni rose 2.5 percent after announcing the birth of Eni Sustainable Mobility, the new company dedicated to sustainable mobility.

As Eni explained, it is a vertically integrated company along the entire value chain, which aims to provide progressively decarbonized services and products for the energy transition, accelerating the path to zero emissions throughout their entire life cycle.

Tenaris, Leonardo, Moncler, Saipem, DiaSorin, Recordati, and Prysmian, on the other hand, closed among the bearish, marking a decline of between 3.5 percent and 0.1 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, also predominantly bullish, Juventus FC remained in the highs with a plus 8.7 percent.

Webuild marked a decline of 0.6 percent after informing on Monday that it had purchased in the week of Dec. 28-30, 2022 inclusive, 40,500 of its own ordinary shares.

The shares were taken over at an average price of EUR1.3837 per share for a total value of EUR56,040.74.

Anima Holding finished up 0.4 percent. The company announced Friday that it is continuing its partnership with the Crédit Agricole Italia Group, adjusting the previous agreement linking Anima and Credito Valtellinese as necessary.

The revision, as Anima explained in a note, became appropriate following the merger of Credito Valtellinese into Crédit Agricole Italia, effective April 24, 2022.

The agreement maintained the original term to the end of 2027. CAI and Anima intend to preserve the industrial value of the partnership, related to the stability of assets under management.

Zignago Vetro - up 0.8 percent - announced Tuesday that it has lost its Small and Medium Enterprise status as the transitional regime that changed the definition of SME, eliminating the reference to the turnover parameter, has come to an end.

On the Small-Cap side, Trevi Finanziaria Industriale closed down 0.8 percent. The company announced Monday that the period for the exercise of option rights relating to the offer to shareholders of up to 79.1 million ordinary shares for a maximum total amount of EUR25.1 million has ended.

During the offering period as a result of the exercise of 110.6 million option rights, 58.0 million shares in the offering were subscribed for a total consideration of EUR18.4 million.

PLC, on the other hand, rose 4.4 percent but Landi Renzo did better than all with a 5.0 percent gain.

Among SMEs, Neurosoft remained on top with a theoretical rise of 43 percent.

BetterThis, after closing up 15 percent and opening in the green by 4.1 percent, gave up 8.1 percent. On Friday, it reported that board chairman Jaime Torrents Rotelli bought 18,500 shares of the company's common stock.

Circle raised 1.1 percent. It announced Monday that it has signed a new contract through the Log@Sea business network to supply Gate Automation's advanced solutions to a leading Tyrrhenian multipurpose terminal.

"The order, the value of which exceeds EUR145,000, involves the implementation of a complete project of specialized hardware components and Milos software for the management of gate access control procedures for vehicles and Intermodal Transport Units. The topical moment and market confidence in the solutions behind our Connect 4 Agile Growth plan are confirmed," explained President and CEO, Luca Abatello.

Erfo Pharmaceutical Laboratory closed down 9.3 percent. The company reported Monday that Active Capital Investment, linked to the chairman of the board, bought 16,000 shares of common stock.

The shares were taken over at an average unit price of EUR1.871, for a total value of EUR29,936.00.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.5 percent to 25,716.86, the Hang Seng was up 2.7 percent to 20,701.18, and the Shanghai Composite finished in the green by 0.2 percent to 3,123.37.

In New York on European night, the Dow closed fractionally in the red at 33,136.37, the Nasdaq gave up 0.8 percent to 10,386.98 and the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent to 3,824.14.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0569 versus USD1.0545 at Tuesday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.1988 from USD1.1964 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD81.83 a barrel from USD82.73 a barrel last night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,851.52 an ounce from USD1,836.55 an ounce Monday night.

On Wednesday's economic calendar, from 0945 CET until 1000 CET, the PMI and service sector purchasing managers' index for France, Italy, Spain--along with the unemployment rate--Germany, the UK and the Eurozone are scheduled.

In the UK, at 1030 CET, the BoE will release consumer credit, M4 money supply and mortgage data.

Overseas, at 1300 CET, from the U.S., will come data on 30-year mortgages and mortgage applications.

In the afternoon, at 1600 CET, it will be the turn of the ISM manufacturing employment index, sector prices, manufacturing purchasing managers' data and new jobs JOLTs for November.

Among companies listed on the Stock Exchange, no particular announcements are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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