(Alliance News) - The Milanese index on Monday -- after the ephemeral bullish start seen at the sounding of the bell -- closed in the red, setting the bar at 26,600 and closing as the worst among the other major European exchanges.

The day had in fact started out on an active note, with initial optimism thanks to the agreement between Democrats and Republicans to suspend the U.S. government debt ceiling for the next two years. However, the text of the agreement must be voted on by Congress, although the parties have let it be known that it should be supported in parliamentary passage.

On the monetary policy side, in the CME Group platform's FedWatch Tool, using futures also based on the actual federal funds rate or EFFR, the confirmation of the rate at the June 14 meeting has a 43 percent probability for confirmation in the 500/525 bps range. In contrast, the 25 bps rise in the 525/550 bps target is priced at 58%.

Thus, the FTSE Mib closed 0.4 percent in the red at 26,617.35.

Among the smaller listings, the Mid-Cap fell 0.4 percent to 42,185.58, the Small-Cap closed 0.5 percent red at 27,545.31, and Italy Growth finished 0.2 percent green at 9,121.14.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 gave up 0.3 percent, Frankfurt's DAX closed 0.2 percent in the red, and London was closed for Bank Holiday.

On the main index in Piazza Affari, Tenaris closed up 1.9 percent, with price at EUR12.21 on the heels of the green from the previous session that closed up 0.9 percent.

The buy side prevails-among the few stocks in the green-on Amplifon, which closed ahead 1.1 percent. Of note, Millennium International Management on Friday raised its short position on the stock to 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent.

Eni - up 0.2 percent - announced Monday that it has signed an agreement with RINA, a multinational inspection, certification and engineering consultancy firm, with the aim of developing joint initiatives "to contribute to the process of energy transition and decarbonization of their respective activities with particular attention to the shipping sector, in which RINA and Eni will be able to enhance each other's expertise," according to the press note.

UniCredit - down 0.2 percent - announced Friday that it has expanded its partnership in payments with Mastercard, which enables the former to provide all cardholders with a first-rate offering, with a simplified product proposition, a streamlined digital experience with a full suite of in-app solutions, and the development of a dedicated approach to innovation, increasing payment choice for customers through multiple payment solutions.

Also at the tail end is ERG, which closes down 1.6 percent at EUR25.48 per share after hitting a 52-week low of EUR25.26.

On the cadet segment, Maire Tecnimont advanced 1.5 percent. The company announced Thursday that it has signed a new EUR40 million loan agreement with BPER Corporate & Investment Banking, assisted for 80 percent of the amount by a guarantee granted by SACE, in order to further strengthen the group's financial structure.

Strength also on Datalogic stock, which brought home a 2.3 percent gain on the heels of the green in the previous session that closed with a plus 1.8 percent.

Sales on Ariston Holding, which closed with minus 2.0% after two sessions ended among the bullish.

Backside also for Salcef Group, also down 2.0% after two previous sessions in the green.

On the Small-Cap, Seri Industrial closed down 9.1%, marking the seventh session in a row with a negative balance at the final bell.

On the other hand, ePrice gave up 4.7 percent, following a 2.7 percent loss in the previous session. the shares are now worth only EUR0.0102.

Tesmec--down 3.0 percent--reported Friday that Cerved Rating Agency, an Italian agency that specializes in assessing the creditworthiness of non-financial firms, confirmed the company? "s "B1.2" solicited rating.

On a positive note, Eukedos took home 4.6 percent, rearing its head again after two bearish sessions.

Among SMEs, High Quality Food took home more than 15 percent with new price at EUR1.17. Last week the board approved two capital increases. The first is EUR533,600 and reserved for Francesco Paltoni, to be subscribed by contribution in kind of a 46 percent stake in the capital of HQF Agricola, with issuance of 456,068 new shares at a unit price of EUR1.17. The second is for a maximum of EUR3.0 million and reserved for institutional investors and strategic partners, to be subscribed in cash with issuance of a maximum of 2.7 million new shares, at a unit price of EUR1.11.

Casta Diva Group closed ahead 7.5 percent, after announcing Monday that it had approved its draft financial statements as of Dec. 31, 2022, in which revenues stood at EUR83.6 million, up 210 percent from EUR26.9 million in the same period last year. Value of production stood at EUR83.9 million, up 182% from EUR29.7 million. Profit is EUR1.8 million from EUR429,211 in 2021.

Imvest - in the red by 13 percent - announced that it has approved draft financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, having reported sales revenue of EUR4.0 million from EUR2.8 million in the same period in 2021. Value of production is EUR4.6 million from EUR2.6 million in the same period of the previous year. The loss amounted to EUR1.2 million from one of EUR5.3 million in 2021.

Fenix Entertainment, on the other hand, closed down 13 percent, with the stock having nearly halved its market cap since the beginning of 2023 with a red of more than 95 percent.

In New York, the Dow is up 1.0%, the Nasdaq is advancing with 2.2%, and the S&P 500 is up 1.3%.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0712 versus USD1.0703 in Friday's European equities close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2356 from USD1.2330 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD76.48 per barrel versus USD76.56 per barrel Friday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,946.75 an ounce from USD1,941.55 an ounce Friday night.

On Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar, Italy's producer price index is due at 1000 CEST while, four hours later, it will be the turn of Germany's inflation. At 1100 CEST, focus on Italy's industrial sales data.

At 1100 CEST, space for consumer and business confidence indicators for the Eurozone. At 1110 CEST, there will be an auction of 5- and 10-year BTPs.

In the afternoon, in the US, at 1600 CEST, the consumer confidence report will be released while, at 1730 CEST, an auction of 3- and 6-month Treasury bonds will be held.

Among the companies in the Square of Business, the results of Ecosuntek, GO internet, H-farm and RES are coming up.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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