(Alliance News) - On Friday, Piazza Affari and the major European stock exchanges are expected to be in negative territory. Last session ended in the green and passed without any particular market tribulations, aided by the closure of U.S. stock markets for Thanksgiving.

With U.S. markets closed for Thanksgiving, attention shifted to France, where Michel Barnier conceded compromises to Marine Le Pen, but she made new demands, explains Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank.

The popular but costly proposals come up against a French deficit of 5.5 percent of GDP, well above the EU limit of 3 percent. Political tensions are adding to volatility, despite a drop in the French 10-year yield and an improvement in the CAC 40.

For the analyst, the euro is not yet significantly affected by the French political turmoil, but instability does not help. Yesterday, the EUR/USD fluctuated between gains and losses, influenced by inflation in Spain, up 2.4 percent in November, and weaker data on falling food prices in Germany.

Traders remain uncertain about the ECB's next moves as they await the aggregate Eurozone data. A lower-than-expected reading would strengthen the ECB's doves, limiting the euro to 1.06, while a strong figure could encourage a recovery, while keeping EUR/USD bearish below 1.0672, the expert concludes.

Thus, futures give the FTSE Mib in the red by 100.0 points or down 0.3 percent after closing Thursday's session up 0.6 percent at 33,260.13.

Paris' CAC 40 is expected to be in the red by 0.3 percent or down 23.5 points, as Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to be in the red by 0.2 percent or down 34.6 points, while London's FTSE 100 is expected to be down 0.2 percent or down 19.3 points.

In Milan on Thursday evening, the Mid-Cap rose 0.7 percent to 46,962.64, the Small-Cap gained 0.8 percent to 27,128.35, and Italy Growth closed fractionally in the red at 7,666.28.

On the macroeconomic front, Germany's annual inflation rate increased in November but at a slower pace than expected, according to data released Thursday.

Consumer price inflation in Europe's largest economy rose to 2.2 percent in November from 2.0 percent in October, according to preliminary data from Destatis.

In the UK, car production fell 15 percent year-on-year to 77,484 units in October, marking the eighth consecutive month of decline.

Last night in Milan, on the highest-capitalization list on the Milan Stock Exchange, the queen company of Thursday's session was Iveco Group, in the green by 4.3 percent. On the stock it is reported that Marshall Wace cut its short position to 1.08 percent from 1.18 percent.

It was followed by Nexi, which closed up 4.0 percent. According to a report in Corriere della Sera on Thursday, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti is considering the acquisition of Nexi's National Interbank Network -- RNI --, a 208,000-kilometer-long strategic infrastructure linking credit institutions, the Bank of Italy, the central risk center and the anti-fraud system.

Rounding out the bullish podium was Leonardo, in the green by 2.1 percent.

Stellantis advanced 1.8 percent, after a 4.8 percent red finish in the previous session.

Eni-slightly above par at EUR13.42-announced Thursday that it has signed contracts with Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy to acquire four new offshore exploration blocks. The signing consolidates Eni's presence in the country and took place in the city of Abidjan.

Banco BPM - in the green by 2.0 percent - is considering a strategic raise on the ongoing takeover bid on Anima Holding - in the red by 0.2 percent on the Mid-Cap - in response to the EUR10.10 billion exchange offer advanced by UniCredit - in the green by 1.2 percent -, as explained Thursday by Milano Finanza.

BPER Banca - in the green by 0.1 percent - announced Thursday that it intends to repay Banca Carige's bond to 2029 - a Tier II callable fixed-rate bond with reset - early.

The redemption will be at par for EUR200.0 million, plus accrued interest up to the redemption date. Upon completion of the transaction, the bond will be delisted from the DomesticMOT.

At the bottom of the main list were Campari, Telecom Italia and DiaSorin, with declines between 1.0 percent and 1.4 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, Acea closed up 0.2 percent. The company announced the award of the tender for the management of integrated water service in the Ato Ovest Provincia di Imperia area, worth an estimated more than EUR1.0 billion. As Il Sole 24 Ore reported in Thursday's edition, through Acea Molise, a wholly owned subsidiary of the group, Acea will acquire 48 percent of the newly formed mixed public-private company Rivieracqua, which holds the concession until 2042.

Banco Desio e della Brianza -- up 0.7 percent -- is in advanced talks to acquire Credito Lombardo Veneto, an institution with headquarters in Brescia and two branches in Sarezzo and Bergamo. The deal could close around EUR19.0 million, or 0.8 times assets, Il Messaggero explains in Thursday's edition.

Webuild - in the green by 0.2 percent - consolidates its position in Saudi Arabia, where it has been operating since 1966 with a pipeline of projects worth a total of more than EUR30.00 billion and contracts already acquired for EUR7.00 billion, Corriere della Sera reports Thursday.

Cembre, on the other hand, closed 2.2 percent in the red, in its third bearish session with a share price in the EUR40.65 per share area.

On the Small-Cap, Seco closed in the green by 6.6 percent, on its fourth consecutive bullish session.

Fiera Milano - up 0.5 percent - and Semark, the Saudi leader in Food Service events, announced the launch of Host Arabia, a new exhibition event that will debut in Riyadh in 2026.

As Milano Finanza points out on Thursday, the project, unveiled during Saudi Horeca, is inspired by the format of HostMilano, the world's leading professional hospitality event and organized by Fiera Milano.

Instead, doValue retreated 2.4 percent, after two bullish sessions. SIH Partners trimmed its short position on the stock to 0.79 percent from 0.80 percent.

Among SMEs, Soges Group closed in the green by 3.5 percent. The company announced Thursday that its board of directors has approved the implementation of a transaction that includes the acquisition of the entire share capital of Hotel Bretagna and, indirectly, its wholly owned subsidiary Incorsi Srl.

First Capital - flat at EUR15.70 - announced that its subsidiary First SICAF has acquired a significant stake in ErreDue, amounting to 6.97 percent of the ordinary shares admitted to trading and 3.2 percent of the share capital.

RedFish LongTerm Capital - in the red by 1.6 percent - approved the issuance of the first tranche of the "6% Sustainable Growth 2024-2029" bond, amounting to EUR2.6 million out of a total of EUR15 million. Consisting of 103 bonds with a nominal value of EUR25,000 each, the tranche will be issued on December 2 and mature on December 1, 2029, with gross annual interest of 6 percent, paid monthly. At the same time, the company agreed to a partial repayment of EUR2.5 million of the "TV Eur + 500bps 2022-2025" loan, in an agreement signed on November 28.

Riba Mundo Tecnologia gave up 8.2% to EUR10.10, updating the low in the 52-week time frame.

In New York, U.S. stock exchanges were closed for Thanksgiving Day.

Among Asian exchanges, the Nikkei lost 0.4 percent, the Shanghai Composite is gaining 0.9 percent, and the Hang Seng is in the green by 0.2 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0580 from USD1.0551 on Thursday in closing European equities. The pound is worth USD1.2727 versus USD1.2678 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD72.59 per barrel from USD72.31 per barrel Thursday night. Gold trades at USD2,686.04 an ounce from USD2,664.59 an ounce on Thursday night.

Friday's macroeconomic calendar opens at 0845 CET, from France, consumer price index and GDP data will be available.

At 0955 CET, from Germany, it is the turn of the unemployment rate; at 1000 CET, from Italy, industrial sales data and the consumer price index will be available.

At 1100 CET, it will be the turn of the Eurozone CPI, while at 1200 CET, from Italy, the non-EU trade balance is expected.

It closes at 1431 CET with Canada's GDP.

Among the companies in Piazza Affari, Zucchi will release interim results.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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