(Alliance News) - On Thursday, European stock markets are headed for an upward opening after U.S. inflation cooled further in April, reinforcing the assumption that the Federal Reserve will halt its aggressive round of monetary tightening next month.

Investors now await the Bank of England's late morning policy decision, where interest rates are expected to be raised by 25 basis points to 4.5 percent as the U.K. continues to grapple with significantly higher inflation.

Thus, the FTSE Mib, after closing down closed 0.4 percent in the red last night, marks a gain of 25.00 points according to IG platform futures.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 advances 28.00 points, London's FTSE 100 advances 17.00 points, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 marks a green of 50.00 points.

Among the smaller listings last night, the Mid-Cap finished down 0.9 percent to 42,941.71, the Small-Cap gave up 0.4 percent to 28,480.64, and Italy Growth gave up 0.3 percent to 9,107.55.

On the Mib last night, Banca Mediolanum gave up 2.2 percent and finished among the worst performers. It reported Wednesday that it had approved its management report as of March 31, which showed a net profit of EUR178.2 million from EUR112.3 million in the first quarter of 2022, up 59 percent.

The board of directors of the Hera Group -- which closed up 0.7 percent -- on Wednesday approved the consolidated results for the first quarter of 2023, which closed with net income rising to EUR140.3 million from EUR138.6 million in the first quarter of 2022. Net income attributable to the group's shareholders, on the other hand, stood at EUR128.2 million compared to EUR127.3 million as of March 31, 2022.

The board of Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane -- in the red by 1.5 percent -- reviewed and approved the interim report as of March 31, 2023, with net income standing at EUR82.9 million, up 22 percent from the same period in 2022.

Among the bullish, which are the majority, TIM rose, in the green by 3.9%, followed by ERG, which closed up by 3.8%. The two companies announced Tuesday that, through their respective subsidiaries ERG Power Generation and Telenergia, they have signed a new 9-year agreement to supply about 200 GWh/year of green energy for the period 2023-2031.

On the Mid-Cap, Saras hqa closed on top with 4.9 percent after announcing on Wednesday that it achieved a net income of EUR139.1 million in the first quarter of the year, up from EUR76.6 million in the first quarter of 2022. Reported Ebitda amounted to EUR246.4 million from EUR156.3 million in the same period last year.

It was followed by Fincantieri, which closed up 4.0 percent after approving interim financial information as of March 31 on Tuesday, with first-quarter 2023 revenues and income of EUR1.76 billion, mark a 4.9 percent increase over the same period in 2022.

Autogrill closed in the green by 0.3 percent after reporting Tuesday that first-quarter revenues rose to EUR1.03 billion or 40 percent from EUR719.8 million in the same period a year earlier.

High quarters also for Acea -- up 1.7 percent --, which announced Wednesday that it had approved first-quarter operating data in which the company reported revenues of EUR1.24 billion from EUR1.19 billion in the same period a year earlier and up 4.0 percent. Net income was EUR73 million, down 27% from EUR99 million.

On the Small-Cap, Unieuro finished at the bottom and gave up 8.0%.

Tesmec fell back with 5.4 percent after it reported EUR57.5 million in revenues in the first quarter, up from EUR55.9 million in the same period last year. Ebitda came in at EUR7.0 million, down from EUR8.3 million as of March 31, 2022, in line with expectations for the period.

The board of directors of Aeffe -- in the red by 6.2 percent -- released its results for the first quarter of the year on Wednesday, reporting a net loss of EUR300,000 from a profit of EUR8.9 million in the same period of 2022. Consolidated revenues amounted to EUR93.2 million down from EUR101.6 million in the first quarter of 2022,

Tinexta reported Wednesday that first quarter revenues rose 10 percent year-on-year to EUR86.1 million from EUR78.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Ebitda rose 17 percent to EUR13.5 million from EUR11.6 million while the adjusted figure marks an increase to EUR15.0 million from EUR14.5 million.

Fiera Milano -- in the green by 1.9 percent -- reported Wednesday that it made a net profit of EUR8.4 million in the first quarter of the year, an improvement from a loss of EUR12.9 million in the first quarter of 2022. Revenues amounted to EUR48.1 million, up from EUR23.5 million in Q1 2022.

Among SMEs, Finanza.Tech, up 18 percent, and Italia Independent, which closed up 22 percent, flew.

Mondo TV Suisse - in the green by 0.9% - announced Tuesday that it has signed a memorandum of understading with Chinese company Youxin Agogo (Hangzhou) Culture and Media Ltd for both media and L&M production and exploitation of the IP Robot Trains series. The contract is worth about 50 percent of Mondo TV Suisse's estimated 2023 revenues.

Relatech closed in the green by 2.8 percent. On Wednesday it reported that it had reviewed management data as of March 31, where it showed consolidated sales revenues at the end of the first quarter of about EUR24 million from EUR10.4 million -- up about 130% -- compared to the first quarter 2022.

In New York overnight Europe, the Dow Jones gave up 0.1 percent, the Nasdaq advanced 1.0 percent, and the S&P 500 closed in the green by 0.5 percent.

Among Asian exchanges, the Hang Seng is giving up 0.7 percent, the Shanghai Composite retreats 0.2 percent, and the Nikkei closed just above par.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0972 versus USD1.0972 at Wednesday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2619 from USD1.2615 on Wednesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD77.14 per barrel versus USD76.82 per barrel on Wednesday evening. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,032.29 an ounce from USD2,023.19 an ounce at Wednesday's close.

On Thursday's macroeconomic calendar, the Thomson Reuters Ipsos Global Monthly Primary Consumer Sentiment Index for Italy, France, and Germany will be released at 1200 CEST.

At 1300 CEST the Bank of England will release its interest rate decision and at 1300 CEST the OPEC monthly report will be released.

In the afternoon, at 1430 CEST from the US will come the producer price index the unemployment data.

In Piazza Affari are expected of numerous results including A2A, Banca Generali, Banca Ifis and BFF Bank, among others.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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