European markets up, Mib at 42,646

(Alliance News) - On Friday, the major European markets closed the week on a positive note, even though the US announced new tariffs, starting October 1, on foreign-made drugs, heavy trucks, furniture, and furnishings.

In Europe, Spain's gross domestic product grew by 0.8%, while consumer confidence in Italy is estimated to have grown in September, with the consumer index rising to 96.8 points from 96.2 in August, while business confidence stood at 93.7 from 93.6, showing substantial stability.

In this context, the Mib ended up 1.0% at 42,646.23 points, the Mid-Cap rose 0.4% to 59,090.14, the Small-Cap fell 0.1% to 35,851.68, and the Italy Growth gained 0.2% to 8,591 points.

The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.9%, the DAX 40 in Frankfurt and the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.8%.

Axel Rudolph, Senior Technical Analyst at IG, noted that "inflation expectations in the eurozone rose in August, but the Fed's preferred indicator—the PCE price index—was in line with forecasts."

Therefore, "relieved, buyers stepped in again, pushing US indices to record highs this week," the analyst said.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, Unipol took the lead with 2.9% and over 1.1 million shares traded, after three consecutive sessions in the red.

Assicurazioni Generali - up 2.5% - announced on Thursday that it had successfully completed the placement of its first Restricted Tier 1 perpetual bond, carried out as part of the EUR15 billion EMTN program, reaching a total amount of EUR500 million.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena announced the final results of the OPAS on Mediobanca, reaching 86.3% of the share capital. The new board of directors of Piazzetta Cuccia, which will go from 15 to 11 members, must be defined by Friday. MPS climbed 0.3%, while Mediobanca rose 0.2%.

UniCredit is willing to add more German members to its board of directors if this would help secure the deal to acquire Commerzbank AG, according to a report in the Financial Times on Friday. The Piazza Gae Aulenti stock gained 1.6%.

Telecom Italia, up 1.4%, announced that its board of directors has appointed Alessandra Perrazzelli by co-optation.

Among the decliners, Stellantis fell 1.1%, STMicroelectronics fell 2.0%, and Brunello Cucinelli, after Thursday's suspension from trading due to allegations of activities in Russia despite EU sanctions, fell 1.7%.

Eni, up 1.3%, published a statement on Friday expressing its "firm disagreement and deep surprise" at the sanction announced by the Italian Competition Authority at the end of proceedings initiated over two years ago concerning alleged restrictive agreements in the automotive fuel sector relating to the bio component of the price.

In the mid-cap sector, Fitch raised Iren's senior unsecured debt rating to 'BBB+' from 'BBB' and its hybrid bonds rating to 'BBB-' from 'BB+', following the recent improvement in Italy's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating. The stock was up 0.9%.

Juventus Football Club completed the issuance of a EUR150 million non-convertible bond, maturing in September 2037 and bearing a fixed annual rate of 4.15%: the stock gained 1.0%.

Comer Industries led the list with 4.8%, together with Banco Desio Brianza with 3.2%, followed by Avio with a positive balance of 1.7%.

MAIRE, up 0.8%, announced that its subsidiary NextChem and Siemens Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development and commercialization of a high-temperature methanol fuel cell based on a new modular design.

The MFE - MediaForEurope board approved the first half-year accounts, with the group's net profit growing significantly to EUR 130.2 million, compared to EUR 104.7 million in the same period of 2024. MFE A fell 0.4%, while MFE B rose 0.1%.

On the Small-Cap, CSP International recorded the best purchases, up 5.3% to EUR0.319 per share.

Softlab, up 1.0%, closed the first half of the year with a profit of EUR 418,000, an improvement on the loss of EUR 136,000 at June 30, 2024.

Banca Profilo, up 3.4%, announced on Friday that its board of directors had approved the appointment of Matteo Arpe as CEO, supported by two co-managing directors. At the same time, Paolo Muselli, former deputy general manager, was appointed chief financial officer.

The board of Digital Bros - down 6.4% - approved the first half-year accounts on Thursday, with a net profit of EUR 10.7 million, compared to a loss of EUR 6.2 million in the first half of 2024.

Digital Value, down 1.5%, reported a net profit of EUR 5 million for the first half of the year, down from EUR 22.4 million in the same period of 2024. Consolidated revenues amounted to EUR 302 million, down 33%.

Among SMEs, Adventure rose by double digits, up 27%. Neurosoft was up 11%, Tecma Solution was down 16%, and Compagnia dei Caraibi was down 18%.

Energy, down 3.5%, reported half-year results showing a net loss of EUR 1.9 million, an improvement of 55% compared to the loss of EUR 4.2 million recorded in the same half of 2024.

Nocivelli ABP closed the 2024-2025 financial year with a 7.2% increase in profits to EUR 11.5 million, compared to EUR 10.7 million at June 30, 2024. The stock was up 1.6%.

Com.Tel - up 5.7% - on Friday approved a transaction involving the purchase of the minority stake held by Nextaly Srl, equal to 10.7% of the latter's share capital.

Masi Agricola announced that the conditions precedent to the disbursement of the loan for a total amount of EUR 40 million had been met. The closing weighed negatively on the stock by 0.5%.

Notorious Pictures - up 2.0% - closed the first half of the year with a net loss of EUR 2.4 million, up from the loss of EUR 1.5 million recorded in the same period of 2024.

Fervi reported sales of 3.2% and a profit of EUR 1.2 million, down 36% from EUR 1.9 million in the same half of 2024.

Ilpra closed with a net profit of EUR 1.6 million, down from EUR 2.2 million in the same period last year. The stock balance is negative by 2.6%.

In New York, the Dow is up 0.5%, the Nasdaq is down 0.1%, and the S&P 500 is up 0.2%.

On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD 1.1690 from USD 1.1670 at Thursday evening's stock market close, while the pound is trading at USD 1.3402 from USD 1.3344 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD 70.69 per barrel, up from USD 68.88 per barrel at yesterday evening's stock market close, while gold is worth USD 3,779.71 per ounce, up from USD 3,732.78 per ounce on Thursday.

In Monday's economic calendar, at 0900 CEST, the focus is on consumer and producer price inflation in Spain, while at 1000 CEST, Italian trade balance data will be released.

From 1030 CEST, the spotlight will be on UK mortgages, while from 1100 CEST, the focus will be on business, services, and consumer confidence in the Eurozone.

At 1600 CEST, the spotlight will be on the US housing market, while at 1930 CEST, Williams of the FOMC is scheduled to speak.

Numerous half-yearly results are expected from the Italian stock exchange.

By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter

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