(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed higher Thursday, taking the point bar above the 28,800 area, in its third session with a positive trend. Among the trading rooms, it is widely expected that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points next Wednesday, although lower-than-expected inflation data last week suggest that the bullish interest rate cycle may soon be at an end.

Markets also expect the European Central Bank to raise its benchmark deposit rate by the same amount to 3.75 percent next week, on which side they appear divided on whether rates will rise beyond that limit following several accommodative remarks by several Eurotower members during this week.

The FTSE Mib closed up 0.4 percent to 28,815.75, the Mid-Cap closed down 0.5 percent to 42,248.28, the Small-Cap in the red by 0.2 percent to 26,686.69, and Italy Growth closed down 0.2 percent to 9,081.86.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed up 0.8 percent as did Paris' CAC 40, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 picked up 0.6 percent.

On the blue chip list, purchases on Tenaris, which confirmed the good form seen since the opening and moved ahead 2.7 percent with new price at EUR14.80, positioning itself for the fourth session to close on the bullish side.

Testifying to the good session for the oil sector, Saipem, on the other hand, posted a plus 0.2%, marking its third bullish session. Of note, Capital Fund Management cut its short position on the stock to 1.08 percent from 1.15 percent.

Eni holding also did well, with the six-legged dog's stock taking home 0.8%.

BPER Bank closed ahead 2.0%, with new price at EUR2.99. UBS raised its target price on the stock to EUR5.00 from EUR3.70.

Fincantieri, up 3.5 percent on the MidCap, and Leonardo - up 1.8 percent and up 0.3 percent, respectively - reported that Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, the joint venture 51 percent owned by the former and 49 percent owned by the latter, has signed, with the Naval Armaments Directorate of the General Secretariat of Defense, the framework agreement for maintenance in operational condition for the Navy's aircraft carrier Cavour and the Orizzonte-class destroyers Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio. The agreement has a maximum total value of EUR190 million and will run out at the end of 2028. In the coming days, the first implementation contract is expected to be signed between prime contractor OSN and Navarm, covering the first two years of service.

On a negative note, among the list's bearish minority, STMicroelectronics gave up 1.5 percent, after 0.3 percent green on the eve.

Also in the rear-view for Iveco, which gave up 0.8 percent on the heels of eve's loss.

On the Mid-Cap, GVS advanced 4.8%, on the heels of the previous two bullish sessions.

High quarters also for Cementir Holding picked up 3.1 percent instead, on its third session in surplus.

Sesa left 3.5 percent on the parterre, following eve's green with 1.3 percent. The company earlier this week reported that it had reported revenues of EUR2.90 billion as of April 30 from EUR2.38 billion in the same period a year earlier and up 21 percent.

Mondadori Editore went down 2.8%, marking a bearish quaternary.

Anima Holding closed down 1.0%, after finalizing the closing to acquire an 80% stake in Castello SGR, a company active in the promotion and management of alternative investment products mainly real estate based in Milan. The consideration, fully paid in cash, is EUR60 million, plus about EUR1.7 million for the estimated net financial position.

On the Small-Cap, strength on doValue, which raised 4.2 percent. The company announced Thursday the achievement of significant milestones in several key projects developed by its innovation lab and the launch of the next phase of the doTransformation program, a major initiative unveiled at the last Capital Market Day 2022. "The promise of AI has always been clear to us at doValue, and we are now proud to communicate the concrete results this technology is delivering across all of our businesses, with tangible effects on our KPIs and financials," said George Kalogeropoulos, group COO.

Sabaf, on the other hand, brought home a plus 2.8 percent, after a 1 percent decline on eve. The stock had previously come from four sessions closed positive.

d'Amico posted a 1.3 percent gain, with the company proceeding steadily with its buyback plan. Most recently, it reported earlier this week that it had purchased its own ordinary shares with a total value of about EUR585,000.

On a negative note, Pierrel gave up 8.7 percent to EUR1.5342. There was high trading volume on the stock, with more than 283,000 changed hands compared to a three-month daily average of just under 25,000.

Restart also did well, bullish with 1.4 percent after eve's loss of 0.5 percent.

Among SMEs, boost on Datrix, which put up more than 13 percent, after reporting Thursday that subsidiary FinScience is now bringing its thematic data to the Nasdaq Data Link platform.

Altea Green Power took home 6.2 percent, pending the release of results expected later today.

Gambero Rosso advanced 4.4 percent, bringing the price to EUR0.52 per share, in its third bullish session.

Ecosuntek closed down 5.4 percent, after two bullish sessions.

Bellini Nautica closed down 5.1 percent at EUR1.88, in its third bearish session.

In New York, the Dow Jones is giving up 0.8 percent, the Nasdaq is giving up 1.1 percent, and the S&P 500 is down 0.3 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.1140 against USD1.1194 in Wednesday's European stock close while the pound is instead worth USD1.2849 from USD1.2888 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD78.97 per barrel versus USD80.03 per barrel at Wednesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,970.28 an ounce from USD1,974.04 an ounce last night.

On Friday's macroeconomic calendar, from Japan at 0150 CEST comes the national consumer price index, at 0800 CEST from the UK it is the turn of retail sales.

In the afternoon, at 1900 CEST, from the US comes the report from Baker Hughes on drilling rigs and at 2130 CEST, as usual on Fridays, the COT Report.

On the corporate calendar, BB Biontech, Clabo, GPI and TrenDevice will release results.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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