(Alliance News) - European stock markets report a mixed opening for the penultimate session of the week, ahead of the arrival of the Eurozone inflation figure.

"European markets had a largely negative start to the month yesterday, with the exception of the FTSE 100, which managed to close the session higher, due to a decent performance by the basic resources sector on optimism from China's reopening," explained CMC's Michael Hewson.

The pound weakened further against the dollar, having fallen below USD1.20, with the recent rally losing steam following cautious words from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey. In a speech on Wednesday, the Threadneedle Street number one said that "nothing is decided" regarding interest rates and that markets should not assume that further hikes are planned.

On the corporate front, before the bell rang, it was reported that Maire Tecnimont's board of directors on Wednesday evening reviewed and approved the group's draft budget for 2022, which with a consolidated net profit of EUR90.4 million, up more than 12 percent from the previous year. The board approved the proposal regarding the allocation of the profit for the year and dividend distribution totaling EUR40.7 million, with a unit dividend of EUR0.124.

Maire Tecnimont Group revenues amounted to EUR3.46 billion, up 21 percent on the previous year.

The FTSE Mib, therefore, has a bearish reading of 37.50 points, after closing down 0.6 percent at 27,315.08 last night.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is advancing 10.00 points, Paris' CAC 40 is giving up 14.00 points, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is posting a bearish reading of 25.00 points.

Among the smaller lists last night, the Mid-Cap gave up 0.3 percent to 44,699.07, the Small-Cap gained 0.4 percent to 30,395.26, and Italy Growth closed up 0.5 percent to 9,415.75.

On the blue chip list last night, Moncler rose 3.3 percent the day after reporting that net income for 2022 was EUR606.7 million compared to EUR411.4 million in 2021. The board of directors also proposed the distribution of a dividend of EUR1.12.

In fiscal year 2022, the group achieved consolidated revenues of more than EUR2.6 billion, up 25 percent from 2021. These results include Moncler brand revenues of EUR2.2 billion and Stone Island brand revenues of EUR401.1 million.

Stellantis, on the other hand, rose 3.0 percent, bringing assets on a weekly basis to 8 percent.

Saipem also did well, up 1.2%, thanks to both the recovering accounts for the last fiscal year and the rise in the price of the barrel, with Brent rising above USD84 in recent hours.

Pirelli, up 1.4 percent, also rose, on which it is mentioned that Goldman upgraded its recommendation on the company to 'neutral' from 'sell' and raised its target price to EUR4.80 from EUR4.20.

Of opposite sign DiaSorin, which gave ground with 2.8 percent. The company and Cytek Biosciences Inc announced Tuesday that Luminex Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of DiaSorin, has completed the sale of assets related to its Flow Cytometry & Imaging business unit to Cytek for approximately USD46.5 million.

Profit-taking, on Nexi, which gave up 2 percent after gaining ground in the eve following news of the acquisition of 80 percent of Banco Sabadell's merchant acquiring business.

In the Mid-Cap segment, Salvatore Ferragamo was on the upside with 2.3 percent on the eve of the publication of results.

Italmobiliare, on the other hand, advanced 2.7 percent, after a 0.8 percent decline in the previous session, taking the lead in the list.

Salcef, on the other hand, advanced 2.2%, rearing its head after three bearish sessions.

Anima Holding--up 0.2 percent--reported Wednesday that the share buyback program initiated on Nov. 7 ended on Feb. 28. The company purchased 7.9 million shares or 2.3 percent of the share capital for a total consideration of EUR29.9 million.

At the back of the pack is doValue, which gave up 7.2 percent, closing for the fourth time on a negative trend. Trading volumes came close to 700,000, against a three-month daily average of around 118,000.

On the Small-Cap segment, Trevi Finanziaria Industriale climbed nearly 15 percent to EUR0.4435 per share, after the eve's red with 1.5 percent.

Good session also for d'Amico, which picked up 5.9 percent after Tuesday evening's 2.3 percent loss. Trading volumes exceeded 9.7 million, against a three-month daily average of about 3.7 million.

KME Group rose 0.1 percent on the heels of eve's gain after news of the launch of an OPAS on its own shares and warrants with announcement of a possible exit from Culti Milano, up 3.3 percent on Italy Growth.

In contrast, Autostrade Meridionali gave up 5.4 percent, reversing course after three bullish sessions.

Among SMEs, Officina Stellare gained ground with 7.8 percent after signing two contracts with Leonardo to supply a compact ultra-high-resolution multispectral optical system intended for the PLATiNO3 mission and a medium-resolution hyperspectral optical system intended for ASI's PLATiNO4 mission. The contracts, with a duration of about 14 months and a total value of about EUR3.8 million, provide for the design study and construction of space telescopes used by payloads under Leonardo's responsibility, for the PLATiNO3 and PLATiNO4 missions, promoted and funded by the Italian Space Agency.

Imvest, on the other hand, rallied 6.5 percent, after the previous two sessions among the bearish.

Convergenze also did well, closing up 1.9 percent after a 2 percent gain on the eve.

Among the many bearish performers, Grifal gave up 3.7 percent, while Allcore left 3.4 percent on the parterre, on the heels of eve's 1.3 percent red.

Among Asian exchanges, the Nikkei closed down 0.1 percent, the Hang is giving up 0.7 percent, and the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.1 percent.

In New York on Wednesday evening, the Dow Jones closed just above par, the S&P gave up 0.5 percent, and the Nasdaq left 0.7 percent on the sidelines.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0636 versus USD1.0677 at Wednesday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.1973 from USD1.2022 on Wednesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD84.05 per barrel versus USD83.15 per barrel on Wednesday evening. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,831.09 an ounce from USD1,837.35 an ounce at Wednesday's close.

On Thursday's macroeconomic calendar, at 1000 CET comes the Italian unemployment rate, while at 1100 CET it will be the turn of the inflation rate, also coming from the Eurozone at the same time.

At 1330 CET, from the ECB the minutes of the latest monetary policy meeting.

From the US, at 1430 CET initial unemployment claims, while at 1730 CET an auction of 4- and 8-week Treasury bonds is scheduled.

At 2200 CET a speech by Fed member Waller is scheduled.

On the corporate calendar, coming up are results from Acea, Ariston Holding, Banco di Desio e della Brianza, Brembo, Carel Industries, Inwit, Piaggio, and Salvatore Ferragamo.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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