(Alliance News) - The major European stock exchanges on Monday opened near parity following the release of data on German industrial production that proved to be less than encouraging.

A disappointing March -- down 3.4 percent from the previous month, reversing an upwardly revised 2.1 percent increase in February and worse than market forecasts of a 1.3 percent drop -- increased the risk that Germany's economy has ended up in a winter recession:

"Looking ahead, the picture for German industry remains mixed: today's data are so weak that some sort of short-term rebound is in the cards. However, more structurally, production expectations have weakened again, order books have thinned and inventories remain high," commented Carsten Brzeski, Global Head of Macro at ING.

"Add to this the impact of the most aggressive monetary tightening in decades and the expected slowdown in the U.S. economy affecting German exports, and the outlook is far from rosy. In addition to these cyclical factors, the ongoing war in Ukraine, demographic change and the current energy transition will structurally weigh on the German economy in the coming years," the analyst added.

Thus, the FTSE Mib opened in the green by 0.2 percent at 27,399.61.

Among Italy's smaller lists, the Mid-Cap opens up 0.2 percent to 43,524.27, the Small-Cap gives up 0.5 percent to 28,726.03, and Italy Growth opens in the red 0.1 percent to 9,172.91.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 opened in fractional green as did Frankfurt's DAX 40 while London is closed for King Charles III's coronation bank holiday.

On the main Milan Stock Exchange list, Prysmian Group -- down 0.2 percent -- on Friday announced that it had won an order worth more than EUR800 million for a new power transmission interconnection between France and Spain. The link will be built on behalf of INELFE, a 50-50 joint venture between Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica and French grid operator Réseau de Transport d'Électricité.

Intesa Sanpaolo--up 0.1 percent--reported Friday that first-quarter net income showed a marked year-over-year and quarterly increase to EUR1.96 billion. In the first quarter of 2022 it was EUR1.04 billion while in the last quarter of last year it was EUR1.08 billion.

Operating income rose to EUR6.06 billion from EUR5.41 billion a year earlier and from EUR5.67 billion in the last quarter of 2022 while operating expenses fell on a cyclical basis, to EUR2.54 billion from EUR3.13 billion, but rose slightly on an annual basis, from EUR2.52 billion.

The board of CNH Industrial--up 2.7 percent--reported its first-quarter results, which closed with net income of USD486 million, with diluted earnings per share of USD0.35, compared with USD336 million in Q1 2022 and USD0.24 respectively.

Better does only Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, leading the way with 2.9 percent. According to a Reuters release on Friday, the Italian Treasury is willing to reduce its 64 percent stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena through one or more share sales in the market.

As the well-known agency writes, such an option, however, would be considered only if financially advantageous and provided a significant new investor manages the stake in line with the national interest, one of the sources said.

On the Mid-Cap, Anima Holding gives up 0.4 percent after reporting Friday that it ended the first quarter with net income essentially unchanged year-on-year, at EUR30.2 million from EUR30.3 million in the same period a year earlier.

Revenues fell to EUR80.9 million from EUR88.6 million in last year's first quarter,

Piaggio & C opens up 1.1 percent after announcing on Friday that it had revenues of EUR546.8 million in the first quarter of the year, the highest recorded in the period and up 20 percent from EUR455.8 million recorded as of March 31, 2022.

Net income amounted to EUR24.1 million, almost doubled from EUR12.7 million in the first quarter of 2022. This is the "best result ever" for this time of year, the company explains.

Intercos Group opens in the green by 1.1 percent. The board of directors reported Thursday that the company in the first quarter reported revenues of EUR234.6 million, up 34 percent from EUR174.6 million in the same period of 2022. Group adjusted Ebitda stood at EUR29.8 million, up 56 percent from EUR19.1 million as of March 31, 2022.

On the Small-Cap, LVenture Group is not yet trading. On Friday it reviewed and approved the company's financial results as of March 31. In the first quarter, revenues and other income were EUR1.6 million higher by 6 percent compared to March 31, 2022, when they were EUR1.5 million.

Giglio Group led the way with a 16 percent rise to EUR0.73 per share, followed by Pierrel, which gained 9.1 percent.

Among SMEs, Illa, not yet trading, on Friday approved its results as of Dec. 31, 2022, reporting a negative net loss of EUR2.8 million, worsening from a loss of EUR2.3 million in the year 2021.

Sales revenue a decreased to EUR18.2 million from EUR21.5 million in 2021.

Vimi Fasteners is still not trading. The company announced on Friday that, following up on its April 12 announcement regarding the completion of the acquisition of 100 percent of the share capital of Filostamp Srl, a company that has been active for more than 40 years in the production of fasteners, bolts and bolts and specializes in the production of fastening systems for specific customers, the condition precedent inherent in the bureaucratic formalities related to the demerger involving two properties owned by Filostamp, which are considered "non-core" with respect to Filostamp's own operational activity, has been met.

Almawave - trading at EUR4.69 per share - announced Friday that it had approved its main results for the first quarter of the year, having reported revenues of EUR12.8 million, up 41 percent from the same period last year when they amounted to EUR9.1 million.

Esautomotion -- up 2.7 percent -- on Friday reported first-quarter revenues of EUR9.7 million from EUR8.1 million in the same period in 2022, marking an increase of 18 percent.

In Asia, Nikkei closed in the red 0.7 percent to 28,949.88, the Shanghai Composite closed in the green 1.8 percent to 3,395.00 the Hang Seng gained 1.2 percent to 20,289.12.

In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones closed up 1.7 percent at 33,674.38, the Nasdaq finished in the green 2.3 percent at 12,235.41 while the S&P 500 picked up 1.9 percent to 4,136.25.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.1045 versus USD1.1018 at Friday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2642 from USD1.2603 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD76.06 per barrel versus USD75.23 per barrel Friday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,022.24 an ounce from USD2,012.88 an ounce at Friday's close.

On Monday's macroeconomic calendar, the investor confidence sentix from the Eurozone is due at 1030 CEST.

In the afternoon, consumer inflation expectations arrive from the U.S. at 1700 CEST.

On Monday's economic calendar, quarterly reports from Banca Monte dei Paschi, Banco BPM, Nusco, PharmaNutra, Toscana Aeroporti and Valsoia are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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