(Alliance News) - European stock markets are expected to open lower Thursday in the wake of the Federal Reserve's decision to raise U.S. interest rates by 25 basis points, while trading desks await the announcement from the Bank of England.

The Fed raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday, resisting the urge to suspend increases in the face of banking sector turmoil. The central bank's rate hike brings the federal funds rate band from 4.75 percent to 5.00 percent. The vote of the Federal Open Market Committee was unanimous. This was a widely expected outcome, although tumultuous developments in the global banking sector meant that the Fed may have been tempted to decide against a hike.

In the statement, the Fed said that "further tightening of monetary policy may be appropriate." The market interpreted this as more accommodative than the Fed's previous guidance, which stated that "the committee anticipates that continued increases in the target range will be appropriate."

In a press conference shortly thereafter, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell then moved to calm fears in the banking sector.

Thus, the FTSE Mib, after closing down 0.1 percent 26,523.33.

Among the smaller listings last night, the Mid-Cap closed 1.0% in the red at 42,814.28, the Small-Cap finished fractionally in the green while Italy Growth closed 0.3% in the green at 9,293.74.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is giving up 14.60 points, Paris' CAC 40 is just below par, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is down 33.50 points.

On the Mib on Wednesday evening, Leonardo--which closed in the green by 1.7 percent--reported that the Forza Axes project for local public transport in the City of Genoa is kicking off. The integrated tender contract, worth EUR177 million, was signed between the City and the RTI (Raggruppamento Temporaneo d'Impresa) formed by ICM, Leonardo and Colas Rail.

Better did only Iveco Group, up 4.0 percent.

Terna's board of directors -- in the red by 0.6% -- on Wednesday reviewed and approved the results as of December 31, 2022, which closed with a net profit of EUR857.0 million, up EUR67.6 million from EUR789.4 million in 2021. The board proposed a dividend of EUR0.31 compared to EUR0.29 in the previous year. Revenues for 2022 of EUR2.96 billion are EUR359.7 million higher than in 2021.

Eni - up 0.1 percent - reported Tuesday that Chief Financial Officer, Francesco Gattei, bought 6,000 ordinary shares in the company. The shares were taken over at an average price per share of EUR12.6087, for a total value of EUR75,652.20.

Hera closed in the green by 0.7 percent after reporting on Tuesday that it ended 2022 with net income up 4.3 percent year-on-year to EUR372.3 million from EUR356.9 million in 2021.

Hera Group revenues rose to EUR20.08 billion, up sharply from EUR10.56 billion in 2021.

FinecoBank closed in the green by 0.8 percent while other banking stocks are at the bottom of the list: Banco BPM gives up 2.7 percent, Banca Mediolanum loses 1.9 percent, Banca Generali closes in the red by 1.7 percent, UniCredit retreats with 1.3 percent, and Intesa Sanpaolo gives up 0.5 percent while Mediobanca gives up 0.7 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, Anima Holding -- in the red by 1.3 percent -- announced Wednesday that its board of directors has resolved to appoint Franco Corsico as vice chairman and Alessandro Melzi d'Eril as chief executive officer for the three-year period 2023-2025.

Among the bullish few, GVS closed up 14 percent, followed by MARR, which advanced 4.9 percent.

At the bottom are Sanlorenzo, down 6.0%, and Credito Emiliano-which gave up 3.0%-along with the other bankers: BFF Bank is 2.8% in the red while Banca Popolare di Sondrio retreats 2.6%.

On the Small-Cap, Restart - in the red by 1.8 percent - reported that on Tuesday it approved its results for the financial statements as of December 31, 2022, having reported total revenues of EUR1.1 million from EUR100,000 in the same period last year. Ebitda was negative EUR600,000, an improvement from negative EUR1.7 million in the same period in 2021.

The board of directors of B&C Speakers-which closed down 0.7 percent-on Tuesday approved the draft budget for fiscal year 2022 and reported a total profit of EUR12.3 million, up 139 percent from EUR5.1 million in 2021.

Sabaf advanced with 1.0 percent after announcing Tuesday that it had reported a net profit of EUR15.2 million in the year ended Dec. 31, 2022 from a profit of EUR23.9 million, down 38 percent from the same period a year earlier. Revenues for the period amounted to EUR253.1 million, down 3.9 percent from EUR263.3 million as of Dec. 31, 2021.

Among SMEs, Destination Italia flew by 32 percent after reporting Wednesday that consolidated Gross Travel Value (GTV) as of Dec. 31, 2022 -- which represents the total value of tourism services sold to customers -- was EUR27.6 million, up 268 percent from EUR7.5 million in the same period of 2021.

Renergetica - up 1.6 percent - reported that its board has proposed to its subsidiary Zaon to increase its capital to allow Exacto and Flame to join the company. Specifically, the capital increase will amount to a nominal EUR100,000, with a premium of EUR2.9 million, for a total contribution of EUR3 million, which will be partly subscribed by Renergetica itself for EUR2,000 and equally by Exacto and Flame, both for a nominal share of EUR49,000.

EdiliziAcrobatica closed in the green by 19 percent after reporting Wednesday that it had closed on the acquisition of 51 percent of Enigma Capital Investments. Enigma is a Dubai-based holding company under Emirates law that heads a group active in the Middle East in construction, rope access, residential and commercial building cleaning services, and certain facility management services.

Digitouch - in the green by 2.2 percent - on Tuesday concluded the acquisition of a 60 percent stake in MobileSoft, a leading Mobile & Fintech IT solutions design and implementation company that has been active in the Italian market since 2004 and has an important portfolio of clients operating in Finance, Automotive, Utilities and Public Administration.

In New York--in the European overnight--the Dow gave up 1.6 percent as did the Nasdaq, while the S&P 500 slipped 1.7 percent.

Among the Asian exchanges, the Nikkei gave up 0.2 percent, the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.6 percent, while the Hang Seng advanced 1.9 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0918 versus USD1.0799 at Wednesday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2331 from USD1.2239 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD76.30 per barrel versus USD76.22 per barrel on Wednesday evening. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,979.87 an ounce from USD1,949.14 an ounce at yesterday's close.

On Thursday's economic calendar, the Swiss National Bank will announce its interest rate decision at 0930 CET while an EU leaders' summit is scheduled for 1100 CET.

At 1300 CET, the interest rate decision by the Bank of England will be announced.

In the afternoon, from the U.S. will come initial claims for unemployment benefits at 1330 CET and new home sales at 1500 CET.

At 1600 CET will come the European consumer confidence index while at 2300 CET the Australian manufacturing and services PMI index is due.

Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, results from doValue, Iren, Pirelli & Co, Unipol and UnipolSai are expected.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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