(Alliance News) - Stock exchanges begin Friday's session on a positive trend, which is joined by Milan, which advances just below 27,300, with several corporate quarterly reports being released as they go.

In macro news, British Gross Domestic Product grew by 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023 despite negative results for the economy in March, according to numbers released Friday. The Office for National Statistics said the British economy grew by 0.1 percent in the first three months of 2023 compared with the last quarter of last year. The growth was in line with the market consensus cited by FXStreet.

The Bank of England raised interest rates again by 25 basis points as it grapples with rampant inflation, and the central bank significantly raised its economic outlook for the UK, predicting that a recession will be avoided.

The quarter-point increase, in line with market expectations, brings the benchmark bank rate to 4.50 percent from 4.25 percent. This is the 12th consecutive BoE rate increase. The official rate was at 0.10% before the current round of hikes.

Thus, the FTSE Mib advances 0.6 percent to 27,269.14.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is advancing 0.3%, Paris' CAC 40 is advancing 0.7%, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is picking up 0.3%.

On the smaller lists, the Mid-Cap is in the red 0.2% to 42,921.43, the Small-Cap is giving up 0.4% to 28,180.00 while Italy Growth is rising 0.3% to 9,124.00.

On the Mib, Recordati is off to a good start, rising 2.3 percent to EUR44.10 per share. Recordati Spa's board of directors on Thursday approved the financial report as of March 31, 2023, which closed with a net profit of EUR124.0 million as a percentage of revenues of 23 percent. This shows a 28 percent increase over the same period last year. Consolidated net revenues in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to EUR551.4 million, up 32 percent from the first quarter of the previous year.

CNH Industrial, on the other hand, advances 1.8 percent to EUR12.92. On the stock, Kepler Chevreux raised the target price to EUR16.50 from EUR17.50.

BPER Banca advances 1.1 percent to EUR2.69 per share. On the stock it is mentioned that Capital Fund Management cut its short to 0.85 percent from 0.92 percent.

Among the few bearish performers, Prysmian is giving up 0.2% to EUR7.47 per share, following up on its previous three bearish sessions. The board of directors of Prysmian Spa on Thursday approved the group's consolidated results for the first quarter of 2023, which ended with a net profit of EUR182 million compared with EUR126 million in the corresponding period of 2022. Group revenues amounted to EUR3.99 billion, with an organic change of 9.0 percent, "performing better than expected in almost all businesses and geographic areas," the company note specified.

On the cadet segment, Antares marks a plus 1.8 percent to EUR6.75, benefiting from good first quarter numbers. The board of directors Thursday approved the group's consolidated revenues for the first quarter of 2023, which came in at EUR45.1 million up from EUR36.9 million in the first quarter of 2022. Acquisitions of ACSIS, consolidated from February 2022, and Packital and Vescovini, consolidated from August 2022, contributed 5.7 percent to growth and foreign exchange dynamics 3.2 percent.

GVS advances 1.5 percent to EUR5.89 per share, on the heels of the eve's 1.4 percent close.

Sesa, on the other hand, advances 1.4% to EUR109.70 after eve's 0.1% gain.

Iren -- down 0.1 percent -- reported Friday that Fitch revised the company's outlook to 'Positive' from 'Satble' and confirmed its 'BBB' rating for both long-term creditworthiness and senior unsecured debt. The revision of the outlook is motivated by Iren's improvement in financial metrics, and the rating reflects the group's well-integrated and diversified business mix, predominantly exposed to regulated and quasi-regulated activities, which enables solid performance in the current volatile energy market environment.

On the Small-Cap, Geox steps back 6.8 percent to EUR0.98 per share after reporting Thursday that first-quarter revenues rose 21 percent year-on-year to EUR223.7 million from EUR184.4 million in the same period a year earlier.

Good buying on SIT, which advances 2.7 percent to EUR5.00 per share, after a 4.5 percent decline on the eve.

Aeffe, meanwhile, rises 1.1% to EUR1.2780 rearing its head again after three bearish sessions.

Digital Bros -- down 1.7 percent -- reported Thursday that in the first nine months it reported consolidated net revenues of EUR89.2 million, up 7.5 percent from EUR82.9 million as of March 31, 2022. Ebitda stood at EUR30.5 million from EUR31.5 million in the same period a year earlier.

Among SMEs, in a still lackluster list, Intermonte advances 2.7 percent bringing the price to EUR2.67 per share.

In the red, Alfio Bardolla steps back 2.3 percent to EUR2.16. The stock on a year-to-date basis has lost about 27 percent.

Frendy Energy, on the other hand, gives up 2.5 percent, after two sessions of strong gains in which it accumulated nearly 25 percent.

In New York overnight Europe, the Dow gave up 0.7 percent, the S&P gave up 0.2 percent, and the Nasdaq picked up 0.2 percent.

Among Asian exchanges, the Nikkei rallied 0.9 percent, the Hang Seng marks a red 0.5 percent, while the Shanghai Composite gave up 1.1 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0927 versus USD1.0911 at Thursday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2521 from USD1.2503 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD74.60 per barrel compared to USD75.74 per barrel on Wednesday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,010.55 an ounce from USD2,023.00 an ounce at Wednesday's close.

On Friday's macroeconomic calendar, in Europe, the Spanish consumer confidence index is due at 1230 CEST.

Overseas, at 1430 comes data on the U.S. export and import price index.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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