(Alliance News) - On Wednesday, European exchanges are expected to open lower according to the futures market, in the wake of the liabilities recorded overnight on Wall Street and with trading rooms assessing the economic outlook in light of weakening U.S. data and the surprise production cut by OPEC+. Investors also await a set of private sector activity data for Italy, the eurozone and the United Kingdom coming in the morning.

Meanwhile, Japan's services PMI was revised upward to 55.0 in March from a preliminary reading of 54.2 and after a final reading of 54 in February. The data were released Wednesday by Markit Economics.

This was the seventh consecutive month of increase in services activity and the strongest pace since October 2013, as sustained government support for the sector continued, with the impact of the pandemic becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Thus, futures on the FTSE Mib marked a decline of 30.00 points after closing 0.6 percent in the red at 27,026.56.

Among the smaller lists, the Mid-Cap closed down 0.5 percent to 43,658.15, the Small-Cap is in the red 0.1 percent to 29,848.47, and Italy Growth finished in the green 0.3 percent to 9,425.30.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is given a loss of 16.80 points, London's FTSE 100 is expected to be just below par while Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to be in the red by 23.00 points.

On the main list of Piazza Affari last night, good performance of oil prices with the cut announced by OPEC. Saudi Arabia in fact announced on Sunday a coordinated production cut by the major oil powers, despite pressure from the United States to pump more crude, saying it is aiming for market stability.

In Milan, therefore, Saipem closed up 2.6 percent, marking its seventh session in a row in surplus.

On the rise of black gold, also on the upswing was ERG, which rose 3.5 percent after Monday's 0.9 percent loss. Previously, the Garrone company had closed in the green for three sessions in a row.

Buyers also bought Pirelli, which closed on the eve of the accounts by picking up 1.6 percent with price above EUR4.70.

Among bankers good purchases on BPER Banca. The bank - up 1.6 percent - and UnipolSai Assicurazioni, which rallied 0.3 percent on the MidCap, signed an agreement to launch a strategic business partnership in the long-term rental sector to be achieved, among other things, through the merger by incorporation of Società Italiana Flotte Aziendali Spa, a wholly owned entity of BPER Banca, into UnipolRentalSpa, the latter company controlled by UnipolSai.

Enel, on the other hand, closed among the bearish with 0.3 percent. The company, Bloomberg writes, is considering selling a majority stake in its energy storage business, in a move aimed at further reducing the company's debt burden. Enel, Bloomberg points out, has received non-binding offers for an 80 percent stake in the project, worth about EUR2 billion.

On the cadet segment, Seco closed in the green by 7.2 percent and on which there was high trading volume with more than 663,000 pieces traded on a three-month daily average of just under 190,000.

The buy side also prevailed well on Piaggio, with the Vespa company closing in the green by 2.8 percent, following up on the eve's gain of 1.5 percent.

Green also for Tod's, which picked up 0.3 percent with price at EUR37.96. On the stock it is reported that Goldman Sachs raised the price to EUR43.10 from EUR39.00.

Mutuionline, on the other hand, took home an asset of 2.6 percent, beating the green on the eve when it had picked up 2.1 percent.

To improve integrated water services for one million citizens in the provinces of Genoa and La Spezia, mitigating the ongoing water crisis through careful management of the water resource. This is the main objective of the EUR150 million "Sustainability linked" loan granted by the European Investment Bank to Iren, which disclosed it on Tuesday. The stock still closed in the red, albeit with 0.5 percent.

On the Small-Cap, GPI rallied 4.3% after the previous three bearish closes.

Sogefi also declined, stepping back 0.4 percent after much of the session in the positive and turning from the green on the eve, which closed with a plus 1.8 percent.

Monrif, on the other hand, gives up 3.6 percent, after reporting its 2022 full-year results on Monday, reporting a profit of EUR314,000, an improvement from a loss of EUR3.3 million reported as of Dec. 31, 2021. Consolidated revenues amounted to EUR157.9 million compared to EUR149.5 million in the previous year, an increase of 5.6 percent.

Bastogi, however, left 2.3 percent on the parterre. For Italy's oldest listed company, the weekly still marks a slight profit.

Among SMEs, Fenix Entertainment took home 6.9 percent with price at EUR0.2960, rebounding three sessions of significant declines.

GM Leather, on the other hand, raised the price bar 5.4 percent with new price at EUR1.7500 after stepping back with 1.2 percent on Monday's close.

Among several negative notes, Pharmacosmo gave up 5.6 percent on the yearly low price at EUR1.51.

Datrix, on the other hand, backed off 4.8 percent. The company approved its 2022 consolidated results on Friday, reporting a net loss of EUR2.7 million, worsening from EUR2.4 million in 2021. Revenues for 2022 amounted to EUR16.8 million up 46 percent from the previous year when they were EUR11.5 million.

In New York - on the European night - the Dow Jones closed 0.7 percent in the red, the S&P down 0.6 percent, and the Nasdaq left 0.5 percent on the parterre.

In Asia, the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges remained closed for holidays, while the Nikkei left the parterre 1.7 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0953 versus USD1.0955 at Tuesday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2488 from USD1.2500 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD85.40 per barrel versus USD83.98 per barrel Tuesday evening. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,024.43 an ounce from USD2,021.55 an ounce at yesterday's close.

On Wednesday's economic calendar, at 0945 CET it will be the turn of Italy's services PMI. Five minutes later it will then be the turn of France's, Germany's and at 1000 CET the Eurozone's.

The same data will be released at 1030 CET for the United Kingdom. At 1100 CET, from Italy, will come the retail sales figure.

At 1300 CET, from the US, focus on the mortgage market report, at 1415 CET the ADP data and at 1430 CET the trade balance.

At 1545 CET, also from the US, will come the tertiary PMI and, at 1630 CET, oil stocks, EIA report and Cushing's inventory.

Of note, the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges will remain closed for national holidays.

Among the companies in the stock market, the results of Netweek and Pirelli are expected.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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