European markets pare gains, MIB at 49,558 points

(Alliance News) - European markets pared their gains by mid-session on Thursday, drifting into negative territory.

Focus remains high on Middle East negotiations, while Brent crude continues its retracement, touching USD98.98 per barrel.

On the macroeconomic front, Eurozone retail sales slowed in March compared to the previous year. On an annual basis, March retail sales recorded a 1.2% increase, exceeding FxStreet expectations of 1.0% but falling short of the 1.3% seen in February.

The Eurozone construction sector saw an acceleration in the contraction of activity in April, the most pronounced in twenty months, driven by sharply rising inflationary pressures and further weakening demand.

In Italy, construction activity recorded a value of 44.8 points in April, deteriorating from 46.8 in March and falling further below the critical 50.0 no-change threshold.

Against this backdrop, the MIB is down 0.3% at 49,554.58, the Mid-Cap is up 0.6% at 60,171.84, the Small-Cap is up 0.5% at 35,500.02, and Italy Growth is unchanged at 8,914.49.

The CAC 40 is trading in fractional green at 8,302 points, the DAX 40 is stable at 24,920, while the FTSE 100 is down 0.6%.

On Piazza Affari, Banca Mediolanum - up 1.4% - closed the first quarter of 2026 with a net profit of EUR276.2 million, a 13% increase compared to EUR243.3 million in the same period of 2025. Gross pre-tax profit rose 15% to EUR379.5 million from EUR330.0 million.

Campari sits at the bottom of the list with a 12% sell-off.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena - up 0.4% - announced on Thursday that Fabrizio Palermo, an independent director and member of the Related Party Transactions Committee, resigned late yesterday evening with immediate effect, citing disagreement with recent governance decisions.

UniCredit, trading up 0.9%, has signed a non-binding term sheet for the sale of part of the assets of its Russian subsidiary AO Bank. The lender informed that the buyer is an established private investor based in the United Arab Emirates.

Iveco Group, in the red by 0.1%, closed the first quarter of the year with an adjusted net loss from continuing operations of EUR74 million, compared to an adjusted net profit of EUR60 million in the first quarter of 2025, representing a negative variance of approximately 134%.

Nexi, up 1.6%, closed the first quarter of 2026 with revenues of EUR821.4 million, up 1.0% from EUR813.1 million in the first quarter of 2025, with underlying growth of 5% year-on-year.

Tenaris - seeing daily sales of 6.0% - reported a net profit of USD564 million for the first quarter of the year, up from USD461 million in the same period of 2025. Revenues amounted to USD3.10 billion, up from USD2.92 billion in the same period of 2025.

FinecoBank - down 1.2% - reported a first-quarter net profit of EUR162.2 million, a 1.2% decrease from EUR164.2 million in the same period of 2025, penalized by a higher tax rate linked to the 2 percentage point increase in IRAP effective January 1, 2026.

Poste Italiane closed the first quarter of 2026 with a net profit of EUR617 million, up 3.3% from EUR597 million in the same period of 2025. The stock is seeing gains of 2.4%.

BPER Banca - down 2.0% - announced that it closed the first quarter with a net profit of EUR547.1 million, up 21% from EUR451.5 million recorded in the first three months of 2025. Banca Popolare di Sondrio was definitively acquired on April 20.

The board of Telecom Italia announced that the group closed the first quarter with a net loss of EUR292 million, compared to a negative result of EUR124 million in the first quarter of last year. The stock remains at the top of the index, up 2.7%.

On the Mid-Cap, MAIRE - up 0.3% - announced that Nextchem, through its nitrogen technology licensor Stamicarbon, was awarded a contract by AdvanSix for the Licensing and Process Design Package related to a new urea-to-Diesel Exhaust Fluid plant in Hopewell, Virginia.

The government could soon intervene in the Ferretti case, the luxury yachting group at the center of a debate involving industry, national security, and corporate governance. Following press reports a few days ago regarding the possible transfer of Italian technologies to the Chinese nautical hub of Qingdao, controlled by majority shareholder Weichai, Lega MP Alberto Gusmeroli filed a parliamentary inquiry seeking clarification on the potential use of golden power. Ferretti is trading down 1.6%.

Revo Insurance is down 3.2% at EUR25.60 per share, while Ferragamo, in line with the luxury trend, gains 9.4%, leading the basket.

On the Small-Cap, Edison - moving in negative territory by 0.5% - announced on Thursday that it closed the first quarter of 2026 with a group net profit of EUR41 million, down from EUR139 million in the same period of 2025, while the net result from continuing operations stood at EUR53 million, down from EUR126 million.

Biesse, up 1.9%, announced that the board has resolved to appoint Stefano Porcellini as a director of the company by co-option.

Industrie De Nora, following its quarterly results, shows a strong performance with gains of 3.6% at EUR7.585 per share.

Among SMEs, Maps - untraded - completed the acquisition of 51% of the share capital of the newly formed Energy Audit Srl, through the subscription of a capital increase reserved for Maps Energy Srl amounting to EUR187,347.00, of which EUR20,400.00 is nominal and EUR166,947.00 is share premium.

Omer, up 3.8%, announced on Thursday that it has commenced operational activities for a new order from a major European player leading the sanitary systems sector.

Ubaldi Costruzioni, up 1.4%, has given notice of termination of the specialist operator mandate to MIT SIM Spa, which will remain in office until August 31 inclusive. Simultaneously, the company has appointed Banca Akros Spa to the new role, effective September 1.

RedFish LongTerm Capital has completed the acquisition of 100% of Stanhome, a company active in the direct sale of home, family, and beauty care products. The transaction was carried out through the vehicle Le Fonti Industrial Srl for a consideration of EUR21.2 million, of which EUR4.5 million is in the form of a vendor loan to be repaid by 2031. The stock is flat at EUR1.22 per share.

In New York on Wednesday evening, the Dow gained 1.2%, the Nasdaq advanced 2.0%, while the S&P 500 rose 1.5%.

On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1773 from USD1.1754 on Wednesday evening, while the pound is trading at USD1.3619 from USD1.3598 yesterday evening.

Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD98.98 per barrel from USD101.71 per barrel on Wednesday evening, while gold is worth USD4,732.95 per ounce from USD4,693.70 per ounce yesterday evening.

On Thursday's economic calendar, at 1430 CEST, attention turns to US jobless claims, while at 2230 CEST, the Federal Reserve's weekly balance sheet will be available.

By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News reporter

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