(Alliance News) - Major European stock exchanges recovered from morning losses on Thursday as traders assessed new economic data and tried to figure out what the monetary policy outlook might be.

Revised data for Eurozone GDP indicated lower-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter, while industrial production data for Germany also disappointed. The data reinforce assumptions that the ECB will hold interest rates steady next week on the grounds that recession in Europe is a serious possibility.

At the same time, data for China continue to point to a faltering recovery while in the U.S. the economy remains resilient, which increases the likelihood that the Fed will keep interest rates high for longer.

Thus, the FTSE Mib trades in the green 0.2 percent to 28,260.14, the Mid-Cap in the green 0.4 percent to 41,571.88, the Small-Cap advances 0.1 percent to 26,909.18, and Italy Growth is in the red 0.3 percent to 8,772.65.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the green by 0.6 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 0.3 percent, and London's FTSE 100 is in the green by 0.3 percent.

On the Mib, Assicurazioni Generali -- up 1.9% -- placed on Tuesday a new euro-denominated Tier 2 bond maturing in September, issued in a "green" format under its Sustainability Bond Framework. Of note, Barclays raised its target price for Generali to EUR19.00 from EUR18.70 with 'underweight' title.

Terna advances 1.7 percent, following a 1.3 percent decline on the eve.

Also advancing well is Hera, which also ranks among the best by advancing 1.5%, rearing its head again after four bearish sessions.

Eni trades down 1.1 percent. Thursday morning it announced the start of the placement of 7-year senior unsecured convertible bonds, the first in the industry to feature a sustainability-linked structure. They will in fact be linked to Eni's achievement of the following sustainability targets as of Dec. 31, 2025: reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions associated with Upstream operations to a value of 5.2 MtCO 2 eq or less, or minus 65 percent from the 2018 baseline level; and increase of installed capacity for electricity generation from renewable sources to a value of 5 GW or more. The bonds, for which Eni expects an A- rating from Standard & Poor's, Baa1 from Moody's and A- from Fitch and a total nominal amount of about EUR1 billion, will be convertible into Eni ordinary shares listed on Euronext Milan.

FinecoBank - down 2.6 percent - posted robust net inflows of EUR648 million in August from EUR343 million a year ago, confirming the bank's acceleration of its growth path thanks to both new customer acquisition and a solid push into investments.

On the Mid-Cap, Tod's trades up 3.4 percent on the strength of its half-year results released Wednesday evening: the company reported revenues of EUR569.1 million, up 22 percent from EUR467.5 million in the same period a year earlier. All product categories recorded double-digit growth. Net income as of June 30 stood at EUR30.9 million, up from EUR755,000 in the same period last year.

Banca Popolare di Sondrio's bullish trajectory continues, up 2.7 percent, following Wednesday's news of Unipol's interest in rising from 9.5 percent to 20 percent in the popolare della Valtellina.

Banca Ifis gives up 0.4% after announcing Wednesday evening that it had completed the placement of a EUR300 million senior preferred bond issue aimed at institutional investors.

Ariston Holding also rises well, advancing 2.3 percent to EUR7.49 after two sessions in the red.

Anima Holding--declining 0.2 percent--reported Wednesday that net inflows from assets under management in August were positive at EUR256 million. Taking into account Branch I insurance proxies, negative EUR1.12 billion, total net inflows for the month were negative EUR866 million, and negative EUR742 million since the beginning of the year. At the end of August, the group's total assets under management stood at about EUR188.2 billion up from EUR182.8 billion recorded on August 31, 2022.

The tail end of the list is for GVS, which marks minus 2.4 percent after three bearish sessions.

On the Small-Cap, good session for Exprivia, which is advancing 4.5 percent with new price at EUR1.6740 after eve's contraction with 0.1 percent.

On the other hand, Sole 24 Ore is advancing 2.4%, reversing course after two sessions among the bearish.

Cellularline advances with 2.1 percent after reporting Wednesday data for the first half of the year, which ended with a net loss of EUR4 million, an improvement from that for EUR43 million as of June 30, 2022. Sales revenue was EUR67.8 million, up from EUR54.6 million in the same period last year.

Fiadia, on the other hand, is giving up 2.8 percent, sitting at the bottom of the segment after a 3.2 percent surplus balance on the eve of the meeting.

Among SMEs, Execus is doing well, rising 8.2 percent with price at EUR3.30. The company debuted on Piazza Affari on August 4 after raising EUR900,000 in IPO.

Also doing well is Ambromobiliare, which is ahead more than 10 percent in its fifth bullish session.

At the back of the pack, Deodato.Galleri is giving up 5.6 percent, in its fourth session on the bearish side.

Among U.S. exchanges, in the European overnight, the Dow Jones closed in the red 0.6 percent to 34,443.19, the S&P down 0.7 percent to 4,465.48, while the Nasdaq finished down 1.1 percent to 13,872.47.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0717 to USD1.0715 in Wednesday's closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2473 to USD1.2502 on Wednesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD89.78 per barrel versus USD90.19 per barrel at Wednesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,919.73 an ounce from USD1,916.47 an ounce on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday's economic calendar, from the U.S., at 1430 CEST, there are unemployment benefit claims, at 1730 CEST the crude oil stocks data and the Cushing inventory in addition to the 4- and 8-week Treasury auctions.

At 2255 CEST, however, a speech by FOMC memebro Bowman is scheduled.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to redazione@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News IS Italian Service Ltd. All rights reserved.