(Alliance News) - The major euro markets met forecasts and opened lower on Monday in the aftermath of Friday's release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls, which intensified fears about further hikes by the Fed.

The FTSE Mib, therefore, opens 0.5 percent in the red at 26,825.73.

London's FTSE 100 starts the day down 0.6 percent to 7,857.43, Paris' CAC 40 opens down 0.8 percent to 7,173.64, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is down 0.9 percent to 15,366.34.

"With further interest rate hikes becoming more likely after the release of nonfarm payrolls, Asian markets were mostly down overnight, with hopes of a local recovery for now passed into the background," commented Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor.

"In addition, nerves were slightly frayed after the news that a suspected Chinese spy balloon had been shot down by U.S. authorities. The news itself was not critical, but it led to comments from both sides that served as a reminder that the contentious relationship between the U.S. and China remains in place," the analyst added.

Meanwhile, in Europe, factory orders in Germany rose 3.2 percent month-on-month in December 2022, exceeding market forecasts of 2.0 percent and reversing the previous month's downwardly revised 4.4 percent slump.

In addition, the Ifo Business Climate of the German chemical industry deteriorated slightly in January, dropping to minus 26.0 points from minus 23.7 points in December 2022, according to the Ifo Institute survey released Monday.

Assessments of the current situation and expectations for the months ahead deteriorated. "While sentiment has improved in the German economy as a whole, the business climate in the chemical industry remains difficult," says industry expert Anna Wolf of the ifo Institute.

Among Italy's smaller listings, the Mid-Cap opens in the red 0.2 percent to 44,574.75, the Small-Cap is in the green 0.1 percent to 30,103.49, and the Italy Growth is up 0.1 percent to 9,602.63.

On the Mib, among the few bullish stocks are Telecom Italia, up 3.1 percent, and Amplifon, in the green by 1.2 percent.

Intesa Sanpaolo, up 1.0 percent, also did well. On Friday, the board of directors approved operating and consolidated results as of December 31, which closed with net interest-driven earnings reaching EUR5.5 billion, excluding Russia/Ukraine de-risking. In the second half of 2022, exposure to Russia was reduced by 68 percent -- about EUR2.5 billion -- to below 0.3 percent of the group's total customer loans.

Azimut Holding opens in the red by 0.3 percent. The company announced Friday that it will participate as lead investor in the EUR15.0 million capital increase of Capitual in order to support its international expansion.

On the Mid-Cap, Anima Holding starts the day in the green by 0.1 percent after announcing Monday that the group's net inflows of assets under management -- excluding Branch I insurance proxies -- in January 2023 were positive by EUR34.0 million.

At the end of January, the group's total assets under management thus stood at more than EUR182.43 billion, down from EUR201.70 billion recorded as of January 31, 2022.

Acea opens up 0.1 percent after announcing Friday that it has concluded the reopening of the Green bond issue made on January 17, 2023 - rate 3.875 percent, maturity January 24, 2031 - in the amount of EUR200 million.

Webuild is also among the bullish stocks, up 0.9 percent. On Friday it announced that it had signed the contract to buy Clough, taking over EUR4 billion of backlog and securing 1,100 jobs.

On the Small-Cap, Tesselis opens in the red by 0.7 percent after announcing Friday evening the resignation effective Feb. 1 of Cristiana Procopio and Alberto Trondoli as directors of the company for personal reasons.

Risanamento -- in the red by 0.7 percent -- announced Thursday that it had seen its preliminary results for 2022, whereby the company reported a net loss of EUR53.8 million from EUR24.9 million in the same period last year.

Among SMEs, ErreDue opens up 1.7 percent. On Friday it announced that it had signed a contract for the construction of a 750 mc/H hyperpure nitrogen plant with a company that is "among the most important entities, nationally and internationally," active in the metallurgy sector.

The sales contract, the amount of which is about EUR900,000.

Eles opens up 1.1 percent after announcing Friday that the EUR6.5 million or so capital increase, to be carried out through the issuance of 3.8 million new shares at a unit price of EUR1.70, approved Thursday by the board, has been fully subscribed.

Growens is in the green by 1.9 percent. On Friday, the board approved the signing of a binding agreement for the sale of Growens' MailUp business unit and its holdings in Contactlab Spa, Acumbamail SL, MailUp Nordics A/S and its subsidiary Globase International Aps to TeamSystem Spa for a total consideration of EUR70 million on a cash/debt free basis.

Nusco opens up 2.7 percent. The company reported Monday that consolidated pre-consolidated revenues as of Dec. 31, 2022, were approximately EUR50.8 million. The order backlog to be filled as of Dec. 31, 2022 is EUR10.5 million.

Doxee still does not trade. On Friday it announced the entry of Simest - a CDP group company that supports the internationalization of Italian companies - into the share capital of its Austrian subsidiary Doxee CEE GmbH, with a minority stake of 42 percent.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the green 0.7 percent to 27,693.65, the Hang Seng gave up 2.0 percent to 21,222.16 and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.8 percent to 3,238.70.

In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones closed 0.4 percent in the red at 33,926.01, the S&P gained 1.0 percent to 4,136.48, and the Nasdaq rallied 1.6 percent to 12,006.96.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0778 versus USD1.0833 at Friday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2041 from USD1.2071 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD80.47 per barrel versus USD81.14 per barrel Friday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,877.94 an ounce from USD1,867.23 an ounce at Friday's close.

On Monday's macroeconomic calendar, at 1030 CET the UK construction PMI will come out.

At 1100 CET it will be the turn of the Eurozone retail sales data.

In the afternoon, from the States, at 1730 CET the auction of three-month Treasury bonds.

Among companies, results from Anima Holding, Credito Emiliano and Medica are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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