(Alliance News) - European stock markets are set to open lower on Friday, with the turbulent political scene in France weakening market sentiment.

French President Emmanuel Macron gave a speech in which he criticized parliamentarians for failing to take voters' concerns into account, after a motion supported by both left-wing and right-wing MPs led to the fall of Prime Minister Michel Barnier's minority government.

Investors also await the eurozone GDP reading for the third quarter, along with French trade data and Italian retail sales for October. Meanwhile, traders were preparing for a crucial report on the U.S. labor market that could influence the Federal Reserve's next decision on interest rates.

Thus, the FTSE Mib -- after closing up 1.6 percent to 34,626.28 last night -- moved just below parity.

Among the smaller listings last night, the Mid-Cap rose 1.1 percent to 48,002.05, the Small-Cap advanced 1.1 percent to 28,128.84, and Italy Growth finished up 0.3 percent to 7,747.06.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is giving up 14.00 points, Paris' CAC 40 is marking minus 17.00 points, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is stepping back 20.00 points.

Back in Milan, last night, on the highest capitalization list of Piazza Affari, UniCredit did better than all and closed ahead 5.0 percent.

Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit, called the offer for Banco BPM - in the green by 2.7% - "fair," involving an exchange of 0.175 UniCredit shares for each Banco BPM share, which corresponds to a price of EUR6.657 per share, a 15-20% premium over stock market prices unaffected by events, such as the takeover bid on Anima Holding - in the green by 0.9% on the Mid-Cap - and rumors of consolidation, the daily Corriere della Sera still reports. The stock is advancing 2.5 percent.

Well Telecom Italia, which finished up 4.5 percent at EUR0.2369 in its third bullish session.

Stellantis did even better, closing up 3.8% at EUR12.55 on its third bullish session.

FinecoBank closed up 2.7 percent. The bank reported that in November, net inflows stood at EUR941 million, up 228 percent from EUR287 million a year ago, to EUR8.9 billion since the beginning of the year and surpassing the full-year 2023 figure.

In addition, following the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process conducted by the European Central Bank, it recorded capital ratios well above requirements.

Nexi -- in the green by 2.1 percent -- announced Thursday the consolidation of its partnership on digital payment services for the next five years with Banca del Piemonte.

The Italian Innovate consortium, coordinated by Cineca and composed of, among others, Snam - in the green by 0.2 percent - and Almawave - in the red by 1.6 percent among SMEs - was awarded the development of the first industrial supercomputer funded by EuroHPC.

This project is co-financed 35 percent by EuroHPC and 65 percent by consortium partners, with an estimated total cost of EUR16.9 million.

Prysmian closed the bluechip segment with a 1.1 percent loss, subject to profit taking after three sessions closed with bullish candlestick.

On the Mid-Cap, strength on Digital Value, ending ahead 12 percent at EUR22.75 per share, on its third bullish session.

Banca Generali - in the green by 1.5 percent - announced Thursday that, following receipt of authorization from the Bank of Italy, it intends to exercise its option to repay the outstanding EUR50 million Additional Tier 1 bond in full early on the first available repayment date.

In addition, the bank reported that it achieved net inflows of EUR510 million in November, up 39 percent year-on-year, bringing the cumulative total for 2024 to close to EUR5.7 billion, up 13 percent from the same period last year.

Maire - in the green by 0.8% - announced the opening of the new office of Tecnimont Private Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Tecnimont, in Airoli Navi Mumbai; the sixth in the Mumbai metropolitan area and the seventh in India.

Alerion ends in the green by 2.7 percent. The company "reaffirmed" Thursday "its confidence in the chairman" Josef Gostner, who is involved in an investigation by the Trento prosecutor's office accusing him of alleged abuse and illegal communication of insider information, as well as recommendations or inducements to others in the context of such violations.

Technoprobe, on the other hand, marks minus 1.1 percent, veering downward after yesterday's bullish session.

On the Small-Cap, doValue advances more than 12 percent, bringing the price to EUR1.58 per share.

Also doing well is Bialetti, which advanced 1.7 percent with new price at EUR0.176 , after the eve's red with 1.1 percent. There was high trading volume on the stock, with more than 86,200 pieces changed hands compared with a three-month daily average of just under 36,000.

Among SMEs, G Rent soars more than 27 percent to EUR0.47, in its fifth bullish session.

Impianti - in the green by 1.6 percent - announced Thursday that it has signed a strategic partnership with Strada Artificial Intelligence Srl in the advanced air mobility sector.

Lemon Sistemi ended ahead 9.9 percent, in its third bullish session and with price in the EUR2.22 area.

TMP Group finished 1.6 percent in the red. Intermonte Sim initiated a short position on the stock at 0.65 percent.

In New York, the Dow closed in the red by 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq closed in the red by 0.2 percent, and the S&P 500 gave up 0.2 percent.

In Asia, the Nikkei gave up 0.8 percent, the Shanghai Composite is picking up 1.1 percent, while the Hang Seng is advancing 1.5 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0571 from USD1.0571 on Thursday in closing European equities. The pound is worth USD1.2749 versus USD1.2754 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD71.89 a barrel from USD72.20 at Thursday night's close. Gold trades at USD1,930.00 an ounce from USD2,661.49 an ounce last night.

Friday's macroeconomic calendar includes at 1000 CET, from Italy, the retail sales figure; at 1100 CET, the Eurozone GDP figure will be available;

In the afternoon, from the US, at 1430 CET, the unemployment rate will be released; at 1515 CET, FOMC member Bowman's speech is expected.

It closes, also from the US, at 1900 CET with the Baker Hughes drilling rigs report.

No particular announcements are expected among companies listed on the stock market.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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