(Alliance News) - On Thursday, major European stock markets confirm expectations and open in positive territory on the day when the Jackson Hole symposium will start.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.8 percent to 28,466.92, the Mid-Cap is up 0.5 percent to 41,380.30, the Small-Cap is in the green by 0.1 percent to 26,888.15, while Italy Growth is in fractional green at 8,837.79.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is up 0.8 percent, Frankfurt's DAX is up 0.7 percent, and London's FTSE 100 is in the green by 0.5 percent.

In macroeconomic news, the manufacturing sentiment indicator in France fell to 96 in August, down from the previous month's upwardly revised 101 and below market expectations of 99.

The latter reading showed the lowest level of confidence among manufacturers since January 2021, attributed mainly to declines in past production balances and the overall order book, with foreign orders.

On the blue chip list, in the red are only Saipem, which sits at the bottom giving up 0.1 percent, and Iveco Group down the same percentage points.

Up goes technology company STMicroelectronics, in the green by 1.6 percent. Also up 1.6% is BPER Banca, which detaches Campari in the green by 1.3% along with Interpump.

Terna rises 0.2 percent. The company reported Tuesday that, in July, electricity demand in Italy totaled 30.1 billion kWh, registering a 3.3% decrease compared to the same period in 2022. In July, 85.6 percent of Italy's electricity demand was met by domestic production and the remaining 14.4 percent by the balance of energy traded with foreign countries. Net domestic production was 25.9 billion kWh, down 2.7 percent from July 2022.

Still doing well was Prysmian, in the green by 0.5 percent. The company announced Tuesday that it has been selected by TSO Amprion, a leading European transmission system operator, as preferred bidder for the two offshore grid connection systems BalWin1 and BalWin2 and the DC34 onshore cable project.

The preferred bidder agreement includes an obligation for the parties to negotiate in good faith the yet-to-be-defined points of the projects, with the goal of entering into final contracts by January 15, 2024. Prysmian has committed to reserve the required production and installation capacity until that date. The contracts have a total value of about EUR4.5 billion.

These three projects are part of Germany's overall plan to install 70 GW of offshore wind power by 2045 and will enable the energy generated in the North Sea to be transmitted to consumers in the country's western and southern regions.

On the Mid-Cap, Salcef Group - flat at EUR24.30 per share - reported Wednesday that its subsidiary Salcef Spa won the tender called by ANAS - of the FS Italiane group - for the construction of one of the key projects for the Jubilee 2025 in Rome.

Specifically, the project involves the burying of the existing road system in Piazza Pia through the extension by about 130 meters of the existing underpass built as part of the Jubilee 2000 works. Thanks to this intervention, a continuous pedestrian path will materialize between the area in front of Castel Sant'Angelo and Via della Conciliazione, resulting in improved usability of a stretch now affected by intense vehicular flow.

Work has begun and will be finished by December 23, 2024. The contract amount is approximately EUR35 million.

It does best of all Caltagirone, which gains 4.0 percent. Brunello Cucinelli follows, in the green by 2.2% and dragging the list's fashion segment: Tod's rises 1.0%, Ferragamo picks up 0.5%, and Safilo is in the green by 1.4%.

On the Small-Cap, algoWatt rises 0.7 percent after announcing Wednesday that it has received the resignation of independent director Michele Costabile.

Bioera - in the red by 1.0 percent - announced on Monday that, at the request of Golden Eagle Capital Advisors, five convertible bonds part of the first tranche - subscribed by GECA on Oct. 11, 2022 - of the convertible bond cum warrant were subject to conversion.

KME Group--not yet affected by the exchanges--reported on Monday that its subsidiary KME SE had signed a letter of intent related to the specialty products business led by Cunova GmbH, of which KME SE, in January 2022, had sold 55 percent of the share capital to the German investment fund The Paragon Fund III GmbH & Co. geschlossene Investment KG.

KME SE, Paragon and SDCL EDGE Acquisition Corporation, an acquisition special purpose vehicle with securities listed on the NYSE, where it has raised USD200 million, signed a non-binding letter of intent regarding a potential business combination between Cunova and SDCL EDGE.

The agreement provides that upon completion of the merger, a newly formed British holding company will have obtained a listing on the NYSE; Paragon will collect all cash from the divestment; and KME SE will not receive cash but will convert the stake held in Cunova into the newly listed shares, further increasing its stake through the contribution of its aerospace business.

Doing better than all is Zucchi, up 2.2 percent, while on the bottom sits Netweek, down 8.6 percent.

Among SMEs, Solutions Capital Management SIM Spa on Wednesday reported that it has signed an agreement with an insurance intermediary for the referral of professionals interested in signing collaboration contracts to distribute insurance products on behalf of SCM.

The company believes that the expansion of the sales force will be able to contribute positively to the company's results in the medium term, following a significant increase in the commission base supported by a slight increase in structural costs.

Innovatec rises 1.1 percent. On the stock it is mentioned that Modefinance, an Italian rating agency registered with ESMA, has confirmed the public 'B1+' rating to creditworthiness. "This rating-equivalent, based on the current mapping, to the 'BBB+' rating of the main international rating agencies-represents a higher score than the minimum required to consider the company's issues investment grade," the company explained in a note.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the green 0.9 percent to 32,287.21, the Hang Seng rallied 2.0 percent to 18,196.88, and the Shanghai Composite was in the green 0.1 percent to 3,082.24.

In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones closed in the green 0.5 percent to 34,472.98, the S&P finished up 1.0 percent to 4,436.01, while the Nasdaq gained 1.6 percent to 13,721.03.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0855 against USD1.0852 on Wednesday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2709 from USD1.2706 on Wednesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD82.75 per barrel versus USD83.46 per barrel at Wednesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,948.05 an ounce from USD1,916.81 an ounce on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday's economic calendar, the day the Jackson Hole symposium will begin, at 1430 CEST, from the US, unemployment claims are expected and, at the same time, durable goods orders.

At 1730 CEST, the auction of 4- and 8-week Treasury bonds will be held while, at 1900 CEST, an auction of bonds with a maturity of 20 years is scheduled.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, no particular announcements are expected.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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