(Alliance News) - On Friday, European markets opened the session showing signs of weakness, with the exception of the Mib, which displayed notable strength.

Markets have digested central bank developments. While the Federal Reserve cut its interest rate by a quarter-point and Chair Jerome Powell expressed caution on further similar moves, the European Central Bank left its policy unchanged for the third consecutive time, mirroring the stance taken in Japan.

On the macroeconomic front, Chinese manufacturing activity contracted for the seventh straight month in October, weighed down by ongoing tensions with the United States.

German retail sales rose by 0.2% month-on-month in September, in line with market expectations and reversing the revised 0.5% fall seen the previous month, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office.

The Mib opened trading up 0.6% at 43,457.39 points. The Mid-Cap slipped 0.2% to 57,704.20, the Small-Cap lost 0.4% to 36,520.76, and the Italy Growth index edged down 0.1% to 8,678.87 points.

Paris's CAC 40 was 0.1% below parity, the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.3%, matching the decline in London's FTSE 100.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, Interpump surged 4.5% to EUR44.80 per share.

Concerning the ongoing banking consolidation, Crédit Agricole ruled out selling its Italian operations to Banco BPM, which slipped 0.1%. "Selling Crédit Agricole Italia for cash or Anima shares is not something we wish to do," clarified Deputy General Manager Clotilde L'Angevin while presenting quarterly results.

UniCredit, up 0.2%, announced last night that it meets all capital requirements set by the European Central Bank.

Stellantis gained 0.9% amid a challenging period for the automotive sector, which is grappling with a chip shortage following the Nexperia affair. Analysts expect only a "modest recovery" for the sector in the second half of 2025.

Azimut, which ended the previous session lower, advanced 1.7% and continues to monitor the potential split between UniCredit and Amundi.

Prysmian returned to positive territory, up 2.7%, after JPMorgan cut its target price to EUR93.00 from EUR94.00, maintaining an 'overweight' rating.

Campari, after topping Thursday's session with gains of over 11%, slipped to the bottom, down 1.2% at EUR5.968 per share.

On the Mid-Cap, Alerion Clean Power, through its subsidiary Alerion Ireland, completed the acquisition of 100% of Milestone Wind Farm, the owner of a 14.4 MW onshore wind park in County Tipperary, Ireland. The stock was down 0.2%.

NewPrinces confirmed the offer price for ordinary shares in Princes Group's Initial Public Offering at 475 pence per share. Based on this price, Princes Group's market capitalization will be approximately GBP1.162 billion. The stock reacted positively, up 0.7%.

MAIRE, down 1.1%, announced that the interest rate on its non-convertible "Senior Unsecured Sustainability-Linked Notes Due 2030" will be 4.00% gross per annum, payable semi-annually. The bond issue is fixed-rate, with a minimum amount of EUR200 million.

Last night, Juventus Football Club--up 0.4%--announced the appointment of Luciano Spalletti as new head coach through the end of the season, replacing the dismissed Igor Tudor.

Webuild inaugurated an immersive room, "Evolutio," at Villa Zito in Palermo dedicated to infrastructure, as part of the Women Economic Forum. The stock opened the session down 1.2%.

Avio shares continued to fall as in the previous session, down 1.3%.

On the Small-Cap, Banca Profilo--flat at EUR0.1610 per share--announced that statutory auditor Gloria Francesca Marino has resigned with immediate effect for strictly personal reasons. As per company by-laws, alternate auditor Alessandro Fosco Fagotto has taken her place.

Borgosesia, up 0.4%, approved two new securitization transactions targeting EUR170 million in funding.

Risanamento's results, which showed reduced losses and rising revenues over the first nine months, lifted the stock by 0.9%. The loss from January to September 2024 was EUR27.5 million compared to a EUR5.9 million loss in the same period last year.

Bestbe Holding performed strongly, gaining 5.2% to EUR0.058 per share, while EPH, after several double-digit positive sessions, fell to the bottom of the basket with a 17% drop.

Among SMEs, Energy Time, down 1.4%, signed a contract to build a new photovoltaic plant in Lombardy worth EUR3.2 million.

Circle, down 0.5%, signed a contract worth a total of EUR945,000 for the digitalization of the transport system and development of the eFTI platform.

TraWell Co approved its new 2025-2029 industrial plan, projecting revenue growth to EUR34.7 million with a 3% compound annual growth rate and an Ebitda margin of 35%. Annual net profit is estimated above EUR2.0 million, with a return to dividend distribution from 2028. The stock was down 1.6%.

Convegenze, which posted nine-month results in line with the previous year and revenues of EUR19.4 million, rose 1.6%.

Soges reported preliminary results for the first nine months of 2025, with revenues of EUR20.3 million, up 55% from EUR13.1 million in the same period of 2024. The stock is currently not trading.

Estrima gained 7.1% to EUR0.227 per share.

In New York overnight, the Dow closed down 0.2% at 47,522.12, the Nasdaq lost 1.6% to 23,581.15, and the S&P 500 fell 1.0% to 6,822.34.

In Asian markets, the Hang Seng dropped 1.4% to 25,906.65, the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.8% to 3,954.79, while the Nikkei rose 2.1% to 52,411.34.

On the currency front, the euro traded at USD1.1568, up from USD1.1566 at Thursday's equity close, while the pound changed hands at USD1.3144, down from USD1.3150 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude traded at USD64.24 per barrel, down from USD64.96 at last night's close, while gold stood at USD4,022.22 per ounce, up from USD3,998.50 per ounce previously.

On Friday's economic calendar, Germany's consumer price index is due at 1000 CET, with the Eurozone figure following at 1100 CET.

US labor data will be released at 1330 CET.

Results from Intesa Sanpaolo and three other companies are expected on the Milan Stock Exchange.

By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter

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