(Alliance News) - Major European stock markets opened higher on Monday after Friday's PCE data reinforced the expectation that the Federal Reserve is very close to signaling its first rate cut in September.

"Core PCE came in slightly higher than expected-steady at 2.6 percent instead of further easing to 2.5 percent-but the rest of the data were in line with or below expectations. Personal income and spending, for example, showed a slowdown, and inflation-adjusted PCE fell to 0.2 percent on a monthly basis. Overall, the data read as a green light for the Fed, which confirmed that September is a good time to start cutting rates," commented Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank.

"The Fed," the analyst continued, "will begin its two-day policy meeting tomorrow and announce its policy decision on Wednesday. If all goes according to plan, a strong signal for a September cut should not make a big difference, as it is already priced in. The risk is to encounter a somewhat cautious Powell, in which case we could see a correction in the Fed's dovish bets. U.S. employment data will also be closely watched this week. Friday's NFP data should show that the U.S. added about 177,000 new nonfarm jobs in July, for steady wage growth of about 0.3 percent and a stable unemployment rate near 4.1 percent," Ozkardeskaya concluded.

Thus, FTSE Mib opens up 0.6 percent to 34,020.42, Mid-Cap is in the green 0.4 percent to 47,865.16, Small-Cap is up 0.3 percent to 29,218.480, and Italy Growth advances 0.1 percent to 8,003.66.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 rises 0.4 percent, Paris' CAC 40 advances 0.4 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 0.6 percent.

On the Mib, STMicroelectronics leads the gains with 1.8 percent. Leonardo and Eni follow in the green by 1.2% while Iveco Group rises 1.1%.

Terna advances 0.2% after reporting Friday that it closed the first half with a profit of EUR544.8 million from EUR411.4 million in 1H2023.

Revenues amounted to EUR1.75 billion, up 18% from EUR1.49 billion in the first six months of 2023.

Tenaris, up 1.0%, reported Monday that between July 22 and 26 it bought 827,733 shares at an average price of EUR14.4272 for a total consideration of EUR11.9 million.

Webuild rises 0.7 percent after reporting Monday that its U.S. subsidiary, Lane, has been awarded a contract worth about USD208 million for modernization work at Naval Air Station Oceana, a U.S. Navy air base in Virginia.

Snam -- in the green by 0.7 percent -- announced Thursday that it had signed a binding agreement to acquire 100 percent of Edison Storage from Edison for about EUR560 million.

Among the bearish, who are the minority, DiaSorin is at the bottom with a 1.4 percent drop while Campari and Moncler are in the red by 1.1 percent and 0.9 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, Zignago Vetro opens up 2.7 percent after closing 7.5 percent in the red. It reported on Friday that it closed the first half of the year with net income down to EUR26.3 million from EUR74.6 million as of June 30, 2023, marking a 65 percent decline.

Revenues for the period stood at EUR329.0 million from EUR384.8 million, down 15 percent from H1 2023.

It is followed by d'Amico and LU-VE, collecting 2.1 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

Iren advances 0.6 percent. The company announced Friday that the Fitch agency confirmed Iren's long-term credit rating at "BBB," and the same rating is also given to senior unsecured debt.

At the same time, the agency announced that it changed the outlook on the company to "Stable" from "Positive."

On Small-Cap, CY4Gate opens flat at EUR6.20 per share. On Friday it announced that it had signed the closing for the purchase of an additional 15.33 percent of DIATEAM.

This is a French company specializing in the design, development and implementation of advanced systems for testing, validation and training in the cyber security domain for government and corporate clients, for which CY4Gate will come to hold 70.66 percent of its share capital.

Immsi Group's Intermarine - up 0.3 percent - and Leonardo - up 3.1 percent - in the form of a Temporary Grouping of Companies - signed a contract with Navarm - Directorate of Naval Armaments of the General Secretariat of Defense and National Armaments Directorate, for the supply of naval units for mine search and clearance and related integrated logistics support.

The contract provides EUR1.6 billion for the construction of five units and about EUR1 billion in options for the completion of the program.

Among SMEs, Monnalisa is not yet trading. The company reported that it closed the first half of the year with revenues at EUR18.9 million, down 13 percent from EUR21.9 million in the same period last year.

Pharmacosmo gave up 4.5 percent after reporting that the group had revenues of EUR32.4 million in the first half of the year, down nearly 12 percent from the same period a year earlier. The decrease was mainly caused by the B2B channel.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 2.1 percent, the Hang Seng rose 1.6 percent, and the Shanghai Composite closed in fractional green.

In New York on Friday, the Dow closed in the green 1.6 percent to 40,589.34, the Nasdaq finished up 1.0 percent to 17,357.88 while the S&P 500 closed up 1.1 percent to 5,459.10.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0852 versus USD1.0857 in Friday's European equities close while the pound was worth USD1.2856 from USD1.2860 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD81.42 per barrel from USD80.78 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,390.94 an ounce from USD2,383.83 an ounce Friday evening.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar calls for the Italian non-EU trade balance to be released at 1000 CEST.

At 1030 CEST the BoE consumer credit with money supply is scheduled.

In Piazza Affari, the results of Iren, Piaggio, Poste Italiane and Lottomatica Group are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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