(Alliance News) - On Friday, Europe's pricipal stock markets close the week in the black with oil leading the Mib and as eyes begin to be on central bank decisions in the coming weeks.

Thus, the FTSE Mib closes up 0.3 percent to 28,233.20, Mid-Cap down 0.1 percent to 41,306.40, Small-Cap in the green 0.1 percent to 26,718.66, and Italy Growth down 0.1 percent to 8,756.34.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 ends up 0.5 percent, Paris' CAC 40 gains 0.7 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 closes in the green by 0.1 percent.

"Rising oil prices, inflation concerns and hawkish comments from the Fed led to eight-week highs for the U.S. dollar," commented Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at IG.

"Fears of persistent inflation, driven by rising oil, gas and food commodity prices, such as sugar at 12-year highs and cocoa at 46-year highs, raise fears that the Fed will have to raise rates again. That and the fact that the rest of the global economy is facing more difficult prospects make the greenback a safe haven and have led to its longest winning streak since 2014."

On the main index in Piazza Affari, Saipem closed on top with a 4.9 percent gain. The company reported that it has been awarded two new contracts for offshore assets in the Ivory Coast and Italy, worth a total of EUR850 million. Also of note, Capital Fund Management raised its short position on Saipem to 1.12% from 1.0%.

Banca Generali -- up 0.2% -- reported Friday that net inflows for August were EUR247 million, up 20% from the same period last year. Since the beginning of the year, inflows stand at EUR3.9 billion.

BPER Banca closed in the green by 0.8 percent after it informed Thursday that the board of directors appointed deputy general manager Gian Luca Santi as chief financial officer.

Azimut Holding gained 0.2 percent after it announced Thursday that it recorded positive net inflows of EUR529 million in August, reaching EUR4.8 billion since the beginning of the year, with a full-year target of EUR6-8 billion.

In August alone, 92 percent of net inflows were directed into asset management products.

Eni raises 0.4 percent, after announcing that it successfully placed an offering with a total face value of EUR1 billion of senior unsecured sustainability-linked convertible bonds.

Despite its August funding figures, FinecoBank sits on the bottom and gives up 1.8 percent. The company posted robust net inflows of EUR648 million in the month from EUR343 million a year ago, confirming the acceleration of the bank's growth path thanks to both new customer acquisition and a solid push into investments.

On the Mid-Cap, ENAV rises 0.1 percent after it disclosed Friday that it has signed four new contracts through its subsidiaries IDS AirNav and Techno Sky to supply systems to optimize flight data and improve airspace efficiency, with India, Norway, Romania, and Kosovo.

The total amount is approximately EUR11 million.

Webuild rises 0.3 percent after it reported Thursday that it continues to grow in Australia and expand into segments new to the group. Australian subsidiary Clough won the AUD420 million contract to build the Shiplift at the Port of Darwin on Australia's north coast. The project involves the construction of a modern system for the lifting, ground handling and launching of small and large vessels, which will consolidate the coastal city's role as a major hub for ship maintenance and support services in the region.

LU-VE gives up 5.6 percent after reporting Thursday that it posted a first-half net profit of EUR19.1 million, down from EUR33.2 million in 2022.

Revenues amounted to EUR320.3 million, up from EUR318.4 million as of June 30, 2022.

Banca Ifis closes in the red by 0.7 percent after it announced Wednesday of in the evening that it had completed the placement of a EUR300 million senior preferred bond issue aimed at institutional investors.

On the Small-Cap segment, the board of directors of Eurotech -- in the red by 8.0 percent -- reviewed and approved the results for the first six months, a period that ended with a net loss of EUR940,000, compared with a loss of EUR4.26 million for the first six months of 2022.

Revenues for the first six months of 2023 stood at EUR47.9 million compared to EUR34.74 million in the first six months of 2022.

Mondo TV -- up 1.6 percent -- on Friday announced that the purchase by Squirrel Media of the company's entire 74 percent stake in Mondo TV Studios has been completed.

As a result of this transaction, Mondo TV officially becomes a minority shareholder in the Spanish group.

Gas Plus gives up 1.8 percent after it reported Thursday that it reported a first-half net profit of EUR18.2 million from a loss of EUR6.9 million as of June 30, 2022.

Total revenues amounted to EUR90.8 million from EUR77.1 million in the first half of 2022.

Cellularline rises 5.2 percent after it reported figures on Wednesday for the first half of the year, which ended with a net loss of EUR4 million, an improvement from that for EUR43 million as of June 30, 2022.

Sales revenue was EUR67.8 million, up from EUR54.6 million in the same period last year.

Among SMEs, Italian Wine Brands--down 1.1 percent--reported on Friday that it had begun a new share buyback program in execution of the resolution passed at its April 27 ordinary shareholders' meeting.

The purchases, the company specifies in a note, will be for a maximum of 30,000 ordinary shares, with no indication of par value, for a maximum value set at EUR900,000.

Ecosuntek rises 1.3 percent after announcing Friday that it reported first-half production value of EUR253.0 million from EUR286.3 million in the same period of 2022, down about 12 percent.

In New York, at the height of trading on Friday, the Dow is in the red by 0.5 percent, the Nasdaq is down 1.3 percent and the S&P 500 gives up 0.7 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0712 against USD1.0706 on Thursday's European stock close, while the pound is instead worth USD1.2476 from USD1.2485 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD90.91 per barrel versus USD90.50 per barrel at Thursday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,945.15 an ounce from USD1,919.87 an ounce on Thursday evening.

On Monday's economic calendar, at 0150 CEST is the release of Japan's M3 Monetary Mass and at 0800 CEST comes data on machine tool orders.

In Italy, at 1000 CEST it is the turn of industrial production, and at the same time, M2 Money Mass and new mortgage data arrive from China.

From overseas, data on U.S. consumer inflation expectations arrive.

Among the companies listed on Piazza Affari, results from Antares Vision, Beghelli, Centrale del Latte d'Italia, Iniziative Bresciane, Italian Design Brands, Landi Renzo, Newlat Food and PharmaNutra are expected.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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