(Alliance News) - On Tuesday, Piazza Affari closed the session on a bullish trend, taking the point bar above 30,000 points, the highest since 2008, mirroring the performance of other European exchanges, where London alone saw the sell side prevail.

Among the data, U.S. job openings signaled that the market would be slowing, reinforcing trading desks' positions on the conclusion of rate hikes by major central banks.

Indeed, the number of job openings in October fell by 617,000 from the previous month to 8.73 million, marking the lowest level since March 2021 and falling below the market consensus of 9.3 million.

In any case, during the session, equities were still benefiting from accommodative comments by ECB official Isabel Schnabel, who said that further rate hikes are to be considered rather unlikely.

Thus, the FTSE Mib closed in the green by 0.6 percent at 30,082.88. The Mid-Cap closed in the green 0.6 percent to 42,062.03, the Small-Cap advanced 0.7 percent to 26,292.35 while Italy Growth advanced 0.2 percent to 8,002.99.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 closed in the green by 0.7 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 advanced 0.8 percent, while London's FTSE100 gave up 0.3 percent. Of note, the DAX touched an all-time high in the afternoon.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, Pirelli & C scmabied well, up 4.9% to EUR4.75, showing good health since the bell rang. Of note, UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' and raised its target price to EUR5.70 from EUR5.00.

Iveco closed bullish by 3.0%, with the company continuing its buyback plan with regularity. Most recently, it reported Monday that it bought back 186,900 of its own ordinary shares between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, for a total value of EUR1.4 million.

Good session also for Saipem, up 1.4 percent after giving up 2.2 percent Monday evening. On Friday Capital Fund Management cut its short on the stock to 0.93% from the previous 1.09%, while Voleon Capital Management reduced it to 0.49% from the previous 0.62%.

Buying also prevailed for parent Eni -- in the green by 0.9% --, which announced Monday that it had signed a new EUR3 billion five-year sustainability-linked revolving credit facility linked to the achievement of two targets in its Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework updated in April. The new facility will further enhance the company's financial flexibility, complementing the similar EUR6 billion sustainability-linked credit facility signed in 2022.

On the bearish side, Leonardo gave up 1.6 percent, priced at EUR13.90 per share. The stock in 2023 recorded assets close to 73%.

Nexi, on the other hand, closed down 1.3 percent, breaking a four-session bullish trend.

On the Mid-Cap, Maire Tecnimont closed up 6.3 percent, after a 1.5 percent decline on the eve, setting the price at EUR4.59.

Pharmanutra, on the other hand, picked up 4.6 percent, taking the top of the list after Monday night's bearish close of 1.6 percent.

Saras also performed well, following the bullish trend in the barrel price. The stock marks a positive balance of 2.0 percent after Monday's 1.7 percent decline. The stock had previously come from five sessions closed in a bullish trend.

LU-VE, on the other hand, left 1.5 percent on the parterre, on the heels of eve's 1.3 percent decline.

Piaggio - down 0.6 percent to EUR2.80 - announced Monday that the Vespa brand was valued at EUR1.08 billion, an increase of 19 percent over the brand's value obtained in the previous valuation of EUR906 million in 2021. This, the company says, is the result of the study commissioned by the Piaggio Group from global brand consultancy Interbrand on Vespa.

On the Small-Cap, Unieuro rose more than 11 percent. The company announced Monday that it had closed the acquisition of Covercare Spa, a leading player in Italy in the cell phone repair services market as well as in the installation of air conditioners and boilers.

Following the determination of the Provisional Net Financial Position, the price is EUR72.5 million, including cash of EUR12.5 million, which will be subject to adjustment according to actual cash. In addition, an amount of up to EUR10 million is expected to be paid as an earn-out, by June 30, 2026, subject to the achievement of a specific profitability target in terms of Ebitda in fiscal year 2025-26.

Good buys also on algoWatt, which closed bullish by 5.9 percent. The company on Tuesday reported that it has obtained a loan of about EUR114,000 - total project expenditure EUR230,000 - for Digital Energy Service Provider activities on the project "INNOVACER - Process and organizational innovation to support the life cycle of Energy Communities."

Itway advances 1.6 percent after announcing Tuesday that subsidiary 4Science Spa has signed a binding agreement to acquire a 60 percent stake in Seacom, an ICT player with more than 20 years of experience in open source innovation with significant expertise in Big Data architecture. Concurrent with the execution of the transaction is the expected subscription of a paid capital increase for a total amount of EUR450,000.

Instead, Biesse closed with a bullish candle of 2.4 percent. Of note, Citadel Advisors cut its short on the stock to 0.59 percent from 0.60 percent previously.

Netweek, on the other hand, retreated 2.6 percent to EUR0.1305, touching a new 52-week low in the day at EUR0.1220.

Rear-ends also for Conafi, which closed down 3.7 percent at EUR0.2620, continuing the downward trend of recent sessions.

Among SMEs, GEL moves ahead 4.3%, reversing course after two bearish sessions.

Saccheria F.lli Franceschetti - up more than 15% reported Tuesday that the board has decided to call a shareholders' meeting to which it will submit the distribution of a dividend of EUR0.043 per share. If approved, the payment will take place on January 17, two days after the ex date and one day after the record date. The dividend yield is 4.1 percent from Monday's last closing share price.

In addition, the board will ask shareholders for approval to initiate a buyback program of up to 177,010 shares, for which it may invest no more than EUR400,000.

Ulysses Biomed rises 15 percent to EUR1.95 after announcing Monday that it has signed a binding framework agreement relating to the acquisition of 100 percent of Hyris Limited for EUR26.2 million in UBM ordinary shares, derived from a special capital increase. Hyris is a hi-tech company under English law that heads the eponymous group operating in the biotech and cloud computing sectors.

Among the bearish performers were ESI's red, which marked a minus 6.0 percent to EUR1.79 per share, subject to profit taking after three sessions of double-digit gains.

Ambromobiliare, on the other hand, gave up 5.8 percent, in its sixth session closed with a bearish candle.

In New York, the Dow Jones is giving up 0.3 percent, the S&P is in the red by 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq is in the green by 0.3 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0788 against USD1.0820 recorded in Monday's European stock close while the pound is worth USD1.2595 from USD1.2620 on Monday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD78.24 per barrel versus USD78.52 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,013.59 an ounce from USD2,025.16 an ounce on Monday evening.

Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar opens with Germany's factory orders at 0800 CET while it will also be the day of construction PMIs. In fact, that of Germany, Italy, France and the Eurozone will arrive at 0930 CET, followed at 1030 CET by that of the United Kingdom. At 1100 CET, for the Eurozone, the retail sales figure will also be released.

At 1200 CET, in the UK, a speech by Bak of England Governor Bailey is scheduled.

From the US, at 1300 CET, room for the mortgage report, followed at 1430 CET by ADP data and the trade balance. At 1630 CET, there will be the release of crude oil stocks, EIA report and and Cushing's inventory.

At 1630 CET, from Canada, eyes on the Bank of Canada's announcement on the main interest rate.

Among the companies in the Square of Business, no particular announcements are expected.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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