(Alliance News) - At mid-day on Tuesday, major European stock markets are moving above parity, with the exception of Frankfurt, which continues to follow a bearish trend after the Federal Statistical Office Destatis released data on industrial production, which fell sharply by 3.1 percent month-on-month in December 2022, compared to November's upwardly revised 0.4 percent increase and worse than market forecasts of a 0.7 percent decline.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is in the green by 0.6 percent at 27,191.91.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is up 0.1 percent, London's FTSE 100 is up 0.6 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is in fractional red.

On the macro front, the Banque de France reported Tuesday that the current account deficit narrowed in the fourth quarter of 2022 to EUR19.3 billion, down EUR2.7 billion from a deficit of EUR22.0 billion in the third quarter.

In Spain, on the other hand, industrial production rose 0.6 percent year-on-year in December 2022, after a downwardly revised 0.7 percent decline in the previous month and against market forecasts of a 0.6 percent drop, according to data released Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics.

Thus, among Italy's smaller listings, the Mid-Cap is in the fractional red at 44,543.15, the Small-Cap is up 0.2 percent at 30,142.14, and Italy Growth is in the green by 0.2 percent at 9,653.92.

On the Mib, Saipem is still the best on the list, as it was at the opening, picking up 3.6 percent. Also good are Tenaris, up 1.4 percent, and Eni, in the green by 1.2 percent. Terna is up 1.3% and Snam picks up 1.0%.

Also in the highs are Intesa Sanpaolo and BPER Banca, up 2.0% and 1.7%.

Intesa Sanpaolo announced Monday that it will kick off its EUR1.70 billion buyback plan on Feb. 13, for no more than 1.63 billion shares.

Telecom Italia also trades in the green, up 0.2 percent after recalling, at Consob's request, that in relation to press reports about the non-binding offer on TIM's fixed infrastructure submitted by KKR, unless otherwise agreed between the parties, the offer has a duration of 4 weeks from the date of sending it - last Feb. 1. TIM's board of directors will meet on February 24 to discuss it and make a decision, thus before the offer's duration deadline.

CNH Industrial -- in the green by 0.5 percent -- announced on Monday that it had begun the second USD50 million tranche of the buyback program announced last July 29, worth a total of USD300 million.

The rest of the Agnelli Galaxy on the list sees Iveco Group in fractional red, while Ferrari is up 1.1 percent and Stellantis is in the green by 0.8 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, Sesa trades in the red by 0.7 percent after announcing Tuesday that it has acquired through its subsidiary Var Group a majority stake in Assist Informatica, thus consolidating its expertise in software solutions for the agribusiness segment.

Assist Informatica, headquartered in Bastia Umbra and employing more than 20 human resources, specializes in the development of proprietary software solutions for the agribusiness supply chain, with a customer set of SME clients operating nationwide.

Anima Holding trades in the red by 2.8 percent. The company reported Monday that it ended 2022 with a net profit of EUR120.8 million, down 49 percent from EUR238.7 million in 2021.

The 2021 figure, however, also benefited from a positive effect of more than EUR24 million from the franking of goodwill.

The group's 2022 net inflows were positive EUR1.6 billion from EUR2.4 billion in the previous year, including Branch I insurance proxies; total assets under management at the end of December 2022 amounted to more than EUR177 billion.

Maire Tecnimont--up 0.3 percent--reported Monday that its subsidiary NextChem has signed an agreement with Biorenova to acquire, develop and industrialize its proprietary CatC technology, a continuous chemical recycling process for the recovery of monomers--basic components for the plastics value chain--at a high degree of purity from sorted plastic waste, particularly polymethyl methacrylate.

On the Small-Cap, algoWatt - up 5.6 percent - announced Tuesday that it has been awarded a grant of about EUR500,000 for activities as a digital energy solution provider and system integrator on the Masterpiece project - Multidisciplinary approaches and software technologies for engagement, recruitment and participation in innovative energy communities in Europe - funded under the Horizon Europe program.

Gefran gives up 1.4 percent. The company announced Monday that it purchased 6,824 of its own ordinary shares between Jan. 30 and Feb. 3. The shares were taken over at an average unit price of EUR9.9222, for a total value of EUR67,708.98.

Risanamento -- in the green by 2.8 percent -- reported on Thursday that it had seen its preliminary results for 2022, whereby the company reported a net loss of EUR53.8 million from EUR24.9 million in the same period last year.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale rises 2.9 percent, in its fourth bullish session.

Among SMEs, Nusco gives up 3.0 percent after announcing Monday that its consolidated pre-consolidated revenues as of December 31, 2022 are about EUR50.8 million.

Growens is on par. On Friday, the board of directors approved the signing of a binding agreement to sell Growens' MailUp business unit and interests held in Contactlab, Acumbamail, MailUp Nordics and its subsidiary Globase International to TeamSystem for a total consideration of EUR70 million on a cash/debt free basis.

Take Off gives up 5.3 percent after reporting Monday that its main shareholder, Summit, sold 1.7 million shares of the company's common stock off-market to Italian and foreign institutional investors.

The shares were sold at a price of EUR4.1660 per share, for a total consideration of EUR7.1 million. Summit thus increases to 53 percent of the company's capital from 64 percent, and the free float rises to 39 percent from 28 percent.

In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones closed 0.1 percent in the red at 33,891.02, the S&P gave up 0.6 percent to 4,111.08 while the Nasdaq lost 1.0 percent to 11,887.45.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0717 against USD1.0724 at Monday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.1999 from USD1.2011 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD82.71 per barrel versus USD80.36 per barrel on Monday evening. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,873.76 an ounce from USD1,868.44 an ounce at Monday's close.

On Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar, at 1430 CET, space is given to the US trade balance while at 1840 CET a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is expected. At 2230 CET, eyes on weekly oil stocks.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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